Taking Chances
by AmiraStarr
Summary: When Anna left the X-Men, she resigned herself to a life of shadows and loneliness. But one good deed later, the life she viewed as worthless is changed in unimaginable ways. Leaving her with a single burning question, "What if?"
1. You Don't Know About My Past

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men Or Anything Related To The X-Men. I also do not own the song 'Taking Chances'.**

 **Summary: When Anna left the X-Men, she resigned herself to a life of shadows and loneliness. But one** **good deed later, the life she viewed as worthless is changed in unimaginable ways. Leaving her with a single burning question, "What if?"**

 **The story title is based on the song 'Taking Chances' originally by Celine Dion, but I see this story as the Lea Michelle version.**

 **So this story is going to be a bit of a comedy and drama. Think of it as Hallmark (mainly their 'A Family Thanksgiving' and ' A Snow Globe Christmas' movies) and Lifetime channels combined, maybe. Yeah, I watch too much television. Anyway, big thanks to Mrs. Jehilew for all of her editing work on the first two chapters and a later chapter. She's a pretty cool dudette with strong writing skills. Hope you guys and gals like the story.**

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The best time to be homeless is the holidays.

Despite what television shows and books voice about how depressing it can be, it is definitely the highlight of the year for those who can't afford a meal (decent or otherwise). Anna Marie had long ago lost count of how many Thanksgiving and Christmas soup kitchens helped her survive over the past four years. Wasn't something she was necessarily proud of, but when you haven't eaten in about two weeks pride takes a back seat to more basic needs.

Her life hadn't always been like this; roaming through towns to try and find a job she wouldn't lose due to a power glitch or attempting to win the ultimate game of misfortune-tug-of-war between eating or keeping a roof over her head. The game wasn't always so basic, though. After some particularly nasty power glitches, the roof option had been taken off the board by outside players, namely angry villagers sans the flaming pitchforks.

What made the whole predicament even stranger, was only a few years back, she'd resided in a cozy mansion with an extremely well-stocked pantry. The place was spacious, roommates generally agreeable, and the rent non-existent. A regular paradise, in the opinion of most unattached strangers. Of course, the description of her old life didn't end there. No, if it ended with that lovely explanation, she would have never wound up an unhealthy solitary skeleton wandering down a frozen sidewalk.

The X-Mansion always sounded great in descriptions. Even after everything she'd been through, Rogue could readily admit the place still maintained a certain wonderment quality when she mentally reviewed the selling points. Professor X and the other teachers did help a lot of students with their new abilities. They even managed to somehow help students with physical mutations blend in with non-mutants. And she knew, in her head and heart, they'd aspired to help her at one point. Really, some of them still probably wanted to desperately clutch at straws of hope any sane person knew were pointless.

You just can't help some people.

Rogue had never admitted it out loud, but in the back of her mind, she'd always known there was an expiration date set for her time at the X-Mansion. After her powers flew out of control, it was obvious, at least to her that she was dangerous and her stint with the civilized and power steady X-Men was up. Sure, Logan and the other teachers tried to remind her no one was angry and they would do anything to keep her and the other students safe. She had to give them at least a little credit on the matter. They definitely did _try_ to help. But like a carton of milk pushed to the back of the fridge, she became more of a nuisance and safety concern than anyone, including herself, wanted to be near.

The memory brought the twenty-year-old back to the important task at hand. How could she have forgotten, for even a moment, the whole reason she trudged out to this barren bridge in negative 2-degree weather? She pulled her pale hands from the warm jacket pockets and gripped the bitterly cold safety rail running along the edge of the bridge. With no trepidation in heart or mind, she peered downwards to the half-frozen water rushing hurriedly under her bridge. It was a decent size drop, more than enough to do the deed twice over.

"Hmm." She hummed to herself, finding a light of irony through the morbid shadow of her situation. The same bridge she'd admired through multiple carpools with the other X-Men was going to be the last sight she would see on this Earth. Well, maybe the second, if the murky water counted as a sight.

Anna Marie would never be labeled the drollest person in the X-Mansion, or anywhere else for what it was worth, but even she hadn't pictured her life coming down to this. As ridiculous and idiotic as it sounded, a tiny part of her she barely recognized anymore, once thought maybe Professor X would figure it all out. Maybe between the two of them, they could have found a way to control her powers. Maybe, just maybe, she could have had a real life…

"Ow!" She whipped her hands away from the railing and instantly noted the steam rapidly escaping from the once frozen barrier.

Every time she lost herself in pointless daydreams, those stupid powers brought her back to reality in minutes. The small bursts of energy had started only a few months after her concert freak out. She'd hoped and prayed the concert episode would empty the pent-up emotions and power raging through her system. But in the end, it appeared the outburst had done far more to awaken new internal strengths then wash out old issues. It was hard, if not impossible, but she'd kept things somewhat controlled for the first few months. Even when Gambit accompanied her on his forced tour of Louisiana, she had kept most of her powers in check. Aside from a surprisingly well-placed burst of super-strength when she tossed one of the assassins out of the jazz club, she'd been pretty power normal.

About a month after bayou adventure time, things had started to move far quicker then the nervous young woman could handle. One moment everything was fine, as fine as her unquiet mind could be at least, and the next her hands tried to break out bone claws, summon a bedroom tsunami, or phase right through whatever poor object she reached for. The day she accidently burned Jamie's arm was the last straw. Late that night, she packed up whatever junk fit in her backpack and hit the road without taking a single look back.

Rogue bit her lip hard refusing to let her mind traipse back down the path of destructive and hurtful memories.

Now here she stood, four years later to the day, overwhelmed and unhealthy both physically and mentally. Ready to take the only precaution she could to save both herself and the world from the Rogue, Anna Marie Darkholme.

"Wait!"

The sudden yell broke Rogue's concentration and forced her head to snap back to the opposite side of the street. She had been far too wrapped up in her personal drama to pay even an ounce of attention to the park on the other side of the road. After a quick study of the scene, she spotted a harried looking woman running with such wild abandon her purse flew completely off her shoulder and spilled its contents all over the snow. The strange lady yelled something about stopping again in a far louder voice, but it didn't make much of an impression until Rogue turned her gaze lower to the ground.

At the edge of the opposite side railing, a small boy was squeezing through the architecture design before racing into the street. Instinctually, Rogue's eyes widened and her head turned towards the left. She noticed the bright yellow ball in the road and the oncoming truck almost instantaneously. The driver was speeding along faster than she could believe was actually allowed in the area, particularly when the roads were still bearing traces of snow and hidden ice.

She opened her mouth as the kid wandered farther onto the road, but no sound would come out. The whole tragic moment began to play in slow motion for all four doomed human contestants. Upon spotting the kid, the driver slammed his brakes so violently the truck started to slide uncontrollably across a patch of ice. On the opposite side of the road, the mother shrieked like a madwoman and hurdled the railing as best she could. Wide-eyed and pale, the boy stood still as a statue in front of the oncoming attack.

Before the thought could even register with her brain, Rogue's feet flew from the sidewalk and raced into the street. With one strong shove, she knocked the child to the curb and his terrified mother's waiting arms. Truthfully, she knew it was only a matter of seconds before the truck finished her off, but just before the collision, she prayed for a miracle.

…

"What just…"

Rogue slowly opened her eyes as her brain snapped back to life, fully expecting intense pain to be radiating through every inch of her. She was no doctor, but any idiot knew getting hit by a truck would do your body no favors.

"Anna Marie Darkholme," The voice that greeted her was feminine, with a little bit of a scratchy quality that gave the tone more character. "Right on time."

The stranger was a tall woman, who looked nothing like a doctor or nurse in her puffy vest, long-sleeved shirt, and fitted jeans. Actually, she didn't seem concerned in the slightest the woman she was weirdly happy to see had just been hit by a vehicle. Instead, of peppering Rogue with questions about her health, as any normal person would, the strange female smiled, adjusted her aviator style sunglasses, and pointed to something on her clipboard.

"Now, we don't really have much time. So, stand on up and let's get moving."

"What?"

"Moving." The stranger repeated almost insultingly slowly, "We have to leave here and go there."

"There?" As her body became slowly conscious to the realization she felt no pain, Anna boldly stood up from the couch she'd been sitting on, "Look…. Whoever… you are. I don't know how you know my name, but I am getting out of here right now."

For the first time since waking, Rogue pulled her eyes away from the female captor and studied her location. It was definitely an improvement to the street she last remembered. Actually, the casual waiting room was an improvement to most of the places she'd lived since leaving the X-Men. The lush green carpet, dark wooden walls, and even the potted plants sandwiching the couch looked healthy. What kind of office actually had healthy, _real_ plants? If that wasn't suspicious, then her name wasn't Anna.

"Exactly. We need to get going."

"Without you! _I_ go and _you_ stay far away from me if you know what's good for ya." Rogue growled at the woman who just kept smiling a little too boldly for her taste. "Just stay away from me."

"No, that won't work." The woman tried to interject, "You see, I need to tell you a few things before you walk out the door."

Did she just say door? Rogue glanced around the room once more with wild eyes before catching sight of the only door in the entire room. She could have almost guaranteed herself the escape route hadn't been there seconds earlier.

The stranger furrowed her brows the moment Rogue's eyes locked onto the target. She shot out an arm to grab the young woman's shoulder but just missed as Rogue ducked away and practically flew to the door. The bizarre waiting room lady called out urgently for her to stay, but the stubborn Rogue would have none of it. Instead, she forced herself to be brave and ripped the door fully open. In the blink of an eye, a tidal wave of solid light washed over her and left the world silent once again.


	2. I Don't Have A Future Figured Out

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men Or Anything Related To The X-Men.**

 **Thank you to everyone who read the previous chapter. I appreciate you guys and gals taking time out of your busy days to look at this chapter and story. Big thanks to Jehilew again since she awesomely gave this chapter an earlier look through.**

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As the world slowly returned to the exhausted woman, a definite pain in the back of her head shattered the slim hope she was still injury free. The pounding rhythmically reverberated through her skull, forcing her to bite the inside of her cheek in an effort to halt the list of colorful words sitting on the edge of her tongue. To try and calm the growing force, she slowed her breathing down and attempted to take long, deep breaths. Which would have worked fine, if a small pointy thing hadn't continuously poked her shoulder.

"I told you to leave me al-" Anna's eyes burst open and took in the sight before her with a slack jaw and the first word of what was bound to be a long list of colorful language.

No longer was she stuck in an impressive waiting room under the watchful eye of the mystery woman. The new location was far more inviting and filled with comfortable yet stylish furniture. Had she been less overwhelmed with the current predicament, Anna would have taken far more time to admire the design and feel of the room. Everything from the wall colors to the curtains was breathtaking, in her humble opinion. Pictures carpeted the walls along with a rather impressive flat screen television staring directly at Anna and the newest stranger to enter her life.

Cheerfully giggling at the side of the woman's newest recovery couch stood a small girl who barely looked large enough to be two-years-old. She smiled widely after locking eyes with the scared mutant then gently patted Anna's knee with one pudgy hand. Anna scooted farther away and felt her heart race in sudden panic when the kid tried to climb onto the couch with her.

"Where in the world am I now?" She worriedly mumbled aloud, before outwardly flinching when the kid grabbed her hand.

Anna whipped her hand out of the stranger's grasp and observed the girl tilt her head in surprise, like a dog listening to a high-pitched sound. It was obvious from one look into her emerald green eyes, which seemed to take up most of her small face, that she was becoming just as puzzled with their predicament as Anna was. Unlike the panicking woman, now busily gawking at the lone curl of white hair hanging loosely over the kid's right temple, the girl's surprise melted away quickly and turned once again into an expression of simple happiness.

"I got to get out of here." Rogue rubbed her eyes and dared to look back at what even she couldn't deny looked a whole lot like a mini version of herself. "Look, kid, where is the exit?"

"Exit." The child repeated unhelpfully and tried to crawl onto Rogue's lap.

"No. Stay. Stay there." She stated as firmly as she could manage while trying to push the kid back with the palms of her hands, "I need to get out of here." The kid sat back on her spot and furrowed her thin brows. "Are your parents here?"

"Mama!" The kid chirped happily.

"So your mom is here?" Rogue swiftly jumped up, pausing only a moment to clutch her head in pain, then busied herself by trying to find a weapon she could use if the situation turned ugly. "Good. Now, where is she…"

Her working theory, as scrambled as even she admitted it sounded, was she'd been dragged to the sunglass woman's home for who knows what reason. The lady knew far too much to be just a passing face. No, there was something bigger going on here. Maybe she was gifted with some kind of healing power? How else could anyone explain Anna walking away from a car crash with only a simple headache? Whatever was happening here, she thought as she grabbed a poker from the fireplace; she wasn't going down without a fight.

The kid slid off of the couch and ran ungracefully over to the paranoid mutant. While Anna attempted to decide what it meant her kidnapper left her with a random girl, the girl in question latched onto her ankle with a death grip. The sudden weight threw her solidly off balance, forcing Anna to drop the poker and crumple to the floor.

"Get off of me!" Anna hissed out roughly and tried to yank the kid off of her leg.

"No!" The little girl shouted in a much less happy tone when Rogue finally succeeded in tearing her away from her ankle, "No, mama! No!"

The words and shocking familiarity of the belligerent green eyes staring into her own matching pair officially freaked Rogue out. She scrambled clumsily away from the kid and held out both hands defensively as if she feared the child would suddenly attack. Instead, the girl's bottom lip quivered and her expression of irritation shifted into one of waterworks.

If the sight of Anna's mini-me wasn't jarring enough, the high-pitched squawking suddenly unleashed by her new friend was more than enough to do her in. She darted from the room in an effort to escape the madness and the noise then ducked into the closest hallway. She spotted what appeared for all intents and purposes to be the front door only feet away, but the race to freedom was halted the second her eye caught sight of something almost as shocking as the kid still screeching in the living room; her reflection.

The woman staring back from the hallway mirror looked older. It was hard to wrap her mind around the apparent age of the reflection, let alone the grand physical changes. Her hair, if this could actually be her true reflection, was rather long, past her shoulders, and fully embodied the bold curls Anna had tried so hard to hide through straighteners and strategic short haircuts. It was definitely a far cry from the frizzy home cut mess she'd lived with for the past four years. Tentatively, she brought a hand up and stroked her left cheek, making sure to mentally note the reflected woman copied each move. The skin beneath her fingertips was smooth and held a healthy looking tan, a far cry from the gaunt, white her skin boasted for so long.

Slowly, the hand rose higher to grasp at a loose white curl. She tugged the strand gently until a loud knock echoed throughout the entryway. She cussed under her breath and dropped the accidently pulled strand of hair, before creeping silently towards the door. Whoever was on the other side seemed to be in no mood to wait for her to decide if she wanted to open up or not.

The knock came again, followed by a new female voice shouting, "Seriously Anna? Open the door!"

Against her better judgment and any ounce of common sense she still owned, Anna unlocked the door and barely stepped back before a short boy raced into the house and right past her. The kid looked around five or six, somewhat tall for either age in her opinion, with a thick head of coppery brown hair. The remarkable thing about the kid, to any observer, was his eyes; a strikingly bright green on black.

"I thought you would never open up." An overdramatic young woman followed the boy into the house and dumped her purse onto the small entryway table. She was short, no more than five feet max, with dark, mischievous eyes and a trendy pixie haircut. Although the young woman didn't give off a very intimidating aura, it was nearly impossible to tear your eyes away from the confident lady. Anna, not being one to relax in anyone's presence, refused to chill out and maintained at least five feet between them.

"What's up with you?" The spitfire continued and walked into the living room, forcing Rogue to take a few steps back, "You feeling alright? You got that crazy look in your eyes, chica."

"Crazy look?" Anna repeated unsure what to think since both of the kids had rejoined them in the living room. Was she really up for taking on a fight in front of an audience?

"Man, this party planning must be burning your brain. Guess no one said it be easy to pull a surprise past him." She laughed brightly making her eyes sparkle like fireworks, "Either way, I kept my end of the deal so don't forget yours."

"Deal?"

"Of course! Don't tell me you forgot." The woman stepped closer to Rogue then the confused brunette expected, "I pick up Oliver from school to give you extra planning time and you hook me up with that single dad from Ollie's class. I mean, how could you ever forget a guy with a six pack, brains, and a sense of humor?"

"Right… Our deal." Rogue nodded her head slowly; not caring for how little respect this stranger gave personal space. "Sure, I'll do that for you, uh…"

"Jubilee." The woman narrowed her left eye and scrunched her face questionably for a moment, "Your awesome, damn attractive friend and horrendously underpaid babysitter." She snickered at her own brashness, then took a slightly more serious tone, "Seriously, girl, are you okay?"

"I, uh-"

"Hold that thought." Jubilee mercifully interrupted Rogue as she suddenly remembered one of the main reasons she was so desperate to get into the house. "Be right back."

As her newest acquaintance disappeared into the long hallways past the staircase, Rogue turned around to find herself face to face with two small and unimpressed people. The older of the two watched her with a hint of suspicion that seemed far past his years. Even when Rogue tried to get away from their stares by escaping to the nearby kitchen, the pair followed in perfect step. It was a creepy feeling to hear the shuffling of feet, but see no one when she dared to take a look back.

"Mama," The skeptical looking one of the pair, Rogue vaguely remembered Jubilee calling Oliver, spoke up finally as they blocked Rogue's direct escape route back to the living room. "We're hungry."

"I am not your mom." She snapped immediately while trying to calm her mind enough to formulate a new plan. If this Jubilee person was a friend, maybe she could help her escape. Then again, maybe she was in league with the strange sunglass woman?

"Yeah, you are." The boy countered with confidence. "Can we have a snack now?"

"I am not your mother," Anna growled out the words a little too roughly, causing the boy to scrunch his eyebrows nervously.

"You don't wanna be our mama?"

"Exactly!" Anna exasperatedly answered, but regretted it instantly. The little girl let out another shriek and started to cry louder than before, while the boy stared at her as if he couldn't believe she had such a thing.

"No, look, I am your mother. I want to be your mom." She scrambled the words together and tried to think of anything that would stop the ear-splitting cries, including grabbing two containers of candy from the top of the fridge. She handed the treats over to the pair who stopped crying and glaring almost instantaneously. "Happy?"

"Thanks, mama!" The girl giggled, a little too joyfully in Rogue's opinion after such a grand display of tears, then stuck a handful of candy in her mouth.

With the two kids occupied, for the time being, Rogue started looking around the kitchen for anything that might give her a clue about where she was or even who she was in this place. The scribbled pictures on the refrigerator each had one of two names written on them; Oliver or Amelia. The contents of the fridge and the cabinets looked normal, and by the time she opened the last drawer in the gigantic room, she had yet to find anything that hinted at more than the happy homemaker. Was it possible this was all some bizarre experiment to test her mental status? Then again, even she realized her theories were starting to reach new levels of paranoia.

Before paranoia patrol could fully conclude, a sudden cheerful tune floated through the air. It took Rogue an entire minute and a second replay of the tune to comprehend the sound was coming from her pocket. A cell phone! She thought eagerly and pulled the thing out so quickly it fell to the floor. Oliver picked up the phone and started punching numbers into the device before Rogue could take it back from him.

"Hey, be careful with th-" She paused as her eyes caught sight of the newly unlocked screen, "You know the phone code?"

"Are you mad?" He questioned a little nervously since his mom was always rather annoyed when he cracked into her phone.

"Are ya kiddin'?!" She commended him for the action and patted his head slightly awkwardly, "Good job…you."

His look of puzzlement came thundering back as Rogue focused all of her attention on the phone. She opened up the texts and almost fell to the floor when the first name on the list came up; Remy LeBeau. What the heck was Remy LeBeau doing on her phone? And why in the wild world was he texting her plans for some romantic evening? She tried to fight back a deep blush after reading the more juicy details of his message. Despite the growing sense of calamity in her gut, she opened the picture album next in slim hope she could prove the looming realization untrue.

Frankly, she felt like a complete and utter idiot, disoriented or straight minded, for not making all the clues fit together far earlier in this bizarro world. Romantic texts, the kid's eyes, Jubilee's comment about being hard to surprise… was she seriously dating Remy LeBeau?! To finish her poor sanity off and finalize her place in the stupidity hall of fame, the confused and bewildered lady glanced back down to her hand and finally noticed the large stone daintily perched on one very specific finger.

She wasn't just dating Remy LeBeau… she was married to him!

Had any outside observer asked what happened next, the stories would have all been exactly the same; Anna Marie completely lost her mind.

She pocketed the phone, leaped over the kids covered in candy and brimming with questions about what their mom was doing, and ran straight for the door. Without pausing a moment, she grabbed the keys that had fallen from Jubilee's purse and bolted to the long driveway. As the engine of the sassy woman's two door car revved to life, Rogue barely registered the shouts escaping the house, nor did she notice Jubilee step onto the front sidewalk and wave her arms in a last ditch effort to reach her friend. No, the only thing Rogue knew as she careened into the street and slammed the gas pedal to the floor, was she had to get out of the loony bin and back to the one place her life ever made sense.


	3. Maybe This Is Going Too Fast

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men or Anything Related to The X-Men.**

 **Thank you to everyone who looked at the previous chapter. I appreciate you guys and gals taking time out of your day to take a look at this chapter. Thanks to my guest reviewer and to Mrs. Jehilew for being so nice. This chapter is odd to me, for some reason, but hopefully it reads okay for you guys and gals:**

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Once upon a saner time, four years might as well have been forty decades to Anna Marie. When she stormed out that fateful night, the young woman made what she sincerely thought was her final peace with the X-Men. But the sudden realization people actually considered you their _parent_ could dash whatever reservations any breathing person could hold against seeking help in a heartbeat.

 _Besides_ , she attempted to reassure herself, as she skidded to an undignified stop in front of the looming mansion, _who knows if I ever left them in this freaky world_?

After the third set of brash knocks (despite the soaring panic she just couldn't bring herself to burst right through the front door), the door opened to reveal a petite woman sporting a chin-length bob, sparkling blue eyes, and a chubby baby perched on her hip. Despite the years and various physical changes she'd undergone, Anna recognized the woman instantly. Without a shadow of doubt in her foggy mind, the woman standing before her was none other than Kitty Pryde.

"Kitty?" Anna questioned the young mother with such a surprised tone; the woman gave a cheerful laugh.

"Since when do you knock?" Kitty adjusted the baby on her hip and didn't seem to mind the small girl was busily gnawing on her tiny fist.

Did they all have families in this world? Anna silently pondered the far-fetched idea her high school friends were all grown up; as she bit back the urge to inform anyone in ear shot this must be an epidemic of some sort.

The baby in Kitty's arms pulled her hand out of her mouth and held it out towards Anna. She babbled unintelligibly before stretching her other arm out as well in a determined attempt to be noticed.

"Addison sure loves her aunt," Kitty giggled and hugged the baby, while Anna merely stared apprehensively at the long strands of drool being flung at her.

"Yeah…" She concurred half-heartedly, trying to ignore the few drops that landed on her sleeve. "Look, what's going on here?"

"You mean like a party or something?"

"No." Anna shook her head somberly and leaned close to her once best friend's face, "You know," If anyone would tell her the truth, surely Kitty would. And even if she didn't want to, Anna knew exactly how to make the woman spill secrets. "There is _something_ going on here. I mean, I woke up and suddenly Remy's kids are everywhere. I didn't even know he had k-"

"Oh yeah," Kitty nodded her head and covered her mouth as if to hide her lips from any possible onlookers. It foolishly raised Anna's spirits until she let out another good-natured laugh and ushered the woman into the mansion, "They are always _Remy's_ kids when they're in trouble."

Anna lingered in the doorway unable to process the conversation. She knew Kitty, past or freaky present, like the back of her hand. It was something bound to happen when a person never stopped talking. Of course, Anna knew far more than the casual acquaintance. She hadn't merely listened to the valley girl's long-winded tales of shopping exploits and why mustard actually belonged in cookie recipes; she'd lived with (or, sometimes, just barely survived by the grace of God) Kitty, day in and day out. Anna knew each annoying habit, top favorite foods, and, most importantly, when she was telling the truth. Disappointing as it was, Kitty was telling the absolute truth with each statement.

"Just going to stand there all day?" The oblivious young woman motioned for her friend to step further into the house with her free hand then shut the door behind her. "You look like you could use a little me time anyway."

"Hank," The sudden outburst broke Kitty's blissful mood and forced her forehead to wrinkle in confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"Hank," Anna repeated quicker, the idea arriving in her head like a flash of light.

The whole event started with one big injury. A truck crashed into her, she played waiting room trivia, and won a throbbing headache and an all expense paid ticket to la-la land. Sounded like prime mental breakdown with a side of traumatic brain injury material to the flustered Anna. If anything, Hank McCoy might be able to tell her if this could all be some crazy coma dream. It was a long shot, but it was all she had left to try.

Instead of waiting for the baffled Kitty to catch up to her train of thought, Anna powered through and raced off to the medical wing of the mansion. She could hear faint calls from her friend, desperate for some sort of explanation, but they died out with each foot she put between them.

There was no way to tell if the medical bay would still be where she remembered, but her feet raced down the familiar paths without a single urge to stop and question the trail. It wasn't as if she lacked people to ask for directions. Each hallway Anna maneuvered through was crawling with mutants of various ages, who were going about their days as if they had no idea the world was completely off kilter. Few, if any of these strangers bore a resemblance to her old teammates, a shame since her ex-teammates knew to give her a wide girth when she passed by.

Instead of the usual outlandish leaps to the opposite side of the hall or the insultingly phony attempts to look too busy to acknowledge her, these mutants actually attempted to stop her. With smiles on their faces and flashes of recognition she couldn't begin to try processing with the strangeness of the day still swirling through her over-clogged brain, they waved and motioned for her to step closer to their groups. At first, she ignored them, keeping her head low as if something completely captivating was racing across the carpet, but they nearly knocked her flat on her butt when the faint calls of, 'Wait up, Mrs. LeBeau!' reached her ears.

"Real busy!" Somehow, through strength Anna never knew existed in her body, she managed to eek out the small response before sliding into the safety of Hank McCoy's personal office.

Thankfully for the mutant pacing like a caged tiger, Hank entered the office no less than ten minutes later. He was still an extremely large figure with well-groomed fur and a comforting grin, but he too had aged significantly. Small sprouts of white hair had taken up residence around his temples and even the lenses of his glasses appeared a little thicker then she remembered.

"Well now," He smiled at her, but faltered a moment when Anna's eyes offered a shade of reminiscing that seemed wholly out of place. "Are you alright, my dear? Kitty chased me down in the hall and said you weren't feeling well. By the look of your eyes, it appears she was correct."

"I…" She sputtered for a moment, feeling the outright madness of the day catch up to her as she was swallowed by the stillness of the first quiet moment in the strange world, "I think I hit my head…"

"Oh my," He softly mumbled then ushered her gingerly through the side door and into his main exam room. After convincing the wide-eyed woman to take a seat on the metal table, he shined a bright light into her eyes and started the basic concussion protocol, "Can you tell me what happened, Anna?"

Could she tell him? Could she actually make it through the whole story about trucks, sunglasses, annoyed kids, and being _married_ to the Cajun without wanting to personally commit herself to a loony bin? If she didn't believe her own story, there was no way Hank, despite how earnestly concerned he appeared, would ever take her seriously. No, she was going to have to think of something much simpler.

"I fell." Wasn't so far from the truth.

"Where exactly did you hit your head?" He moved a finger in front of her face, never doubting the story.

"Uh, the back? I think…" At least that was where the pain seemed to be the strongest. Speaking of, "You think I could get an Advil or something?"

"Not just yet." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully while staring at her cranium with unblinking eyes; "I need to get something from the other room. I want you to stay right here, Anna. Don't move a muscle."

She nodded her head slowly and waited until he left to close her tired eyes and let out a very exaggerated sigh "Should have just run away again…"

"Don't you ever get tired of running?"

 _That voice_!

Anna's eyes shot open and focused straight onto the mysterious sunglass woman. Still decked out in her unusual outfit, the lady leaned casually against the opposite wall with an outdated magazine clutched in her hands. She flipped another page before casually looking up to find Anna seething with anger.

"You!" Anna leaped off the table and threw an accusatory finger at the lady, "This is all your fault! You did something to me!"

"I didn't do anything." She countered coolly and had the gall to smile brightly at her unamused companion, " _You_ , my friend, did something."

"Yeah," Anna grumbled, feeling her head pound harder due to the sudden movement, "I got hit by a bus."

"Truck."

"Whatever!"

"You're right." The woman nodded her head and finally took on a serious tone, "That isn't important. What is important is you are not a lost cause." Anna interjected a drippingly sarcastic thank you, but the woman ignored her, "You were willing to risk your life to save another and that is why you were given a blessing."

"First off, we ain't friends." A thick southern accent smeared over each word as Anna's anger rose to higher levels, "Second, I never asked you for anything."

"Really?" The woman dropped her magazine on McCoy's moveable stool and strolled slowly across the room, "See, I seem to recall a young woman who was lost. Someone who wanted, no, _needed_ , a chance to change her life."

"Well, your radar must be broken, 'cause I ain't interested in anything you're sellin'."

"Too bad. It really is too, too bad." She sighed forlornly.

"What?" Anna snapped, "You gotta creepy quota to fill?"

"Oh no, I am fully focused on your case."

"Goodie."

"The shame," The woman shrugged her shoulders and gave the nails on her right hand an irritatingly slow glance, "Is you're stuck here."

This line caught Anna's full attention instantly. The sarcastic grumbles and pouting expressions were cast aside for far more livid growls, and to be honest, terrified looks.

"Whether it was what you wanted or not, you earned a second chance."

"A second chance at what?" Anna questioned the woman now peering uninterestedly through the glass doors of Hank's medicine cabinet.

"Weren't you paying attention? At life, of course!" The woman turned her head back to Anna and grinned, "All you have to do, is find it."

" _It_? What the fuck is _it_?" Anna groused, "Look, I'm not going to be some weird pawn in your stupid alternate universe checkers game!"

"I saw you more as a chess person. But checkers does have a more instantly fierce nature."

"Would you just shut up and let me out of here!"

"Find it and you will see." The woman smiled and waltzed to the door. She twisted the handle and gazed at the stupefied Anna once more, "By the way, if you want a little piece of advice," A deep glower answered her question negatively, but the sunglass woman continued calmly, "I recommend playing along with everything."

Without another word, the woman sauntered out of the room and into the hallway. Anna raced the two feet to the door and ripped it wide open, fully intending to tackle her strange acquaintance to the ground, only to discover a very startled Hank standing on the other side. He immediately ushered her back to the metal exam table and refused to entertain a single protest until she sat down.

"Did you see her?!" Once her butt was solidly parked on the table, she ripped the manila folder from the man's hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"See who?" The puzzled fellow questioned back and tried to take his files from her iron grip.

"The woman in the sunglasses and puffy vest! She was just there. You couldn't have missed her!"

"Anna," Hank dropped the file he'd wrestled back from her and put both his hands on her shoulders, "Breathe. I need you to take slow, deep breaths."

The lungfuls were sporadic at first, but slowly she maintained a rhythm stable enough to please the doctor. While Anna focused on her breathing, Hank placed a hand to her forehead and attempted to gauge if there had been any rise in temperature.

Anna's eyes widened in true shock as she felt the furry hand rest on her flushed face. Would the surprises of this place never stop? Was she actually able to touch people in this world!?

"How did…" She stammered awkwardly, then cleared her throat, "How can you touch my skin?"

"My dear," Hank's voice was more concerned than ever as he took his hand away and stared into her large emerald eyes, "You've been able to control your mutation for years now, thanks to a lot of hard work. Well, you always say it was your hard work and a little of Remy's help." He took a moment to raise his eyebrows and smile hopefully as if waiting for her to answer a joke she'd never heard before. "Don't you remember?"

It can't be true, Anna assured herself before any ill-fated hopes could grow. There was no way she could've learned to handle her mutation. If there were even an iota of a chance she could manage anything as wild and unpredictable as her powers, she would've figured it out during the thousands of hours spent with the professor. What could be so different in her life here, that she supposedly unlocked the secret of her powers?

 _Remy_.

That was the only factor that was different. How could he help her anyway? All the Cajun could do was charge things. It wasn't like he had some kind of power negation ability. No, it couldn't have been Remy, she presumed mainly since she was unable to fathom any possible scenario that supported such an outlandish claim. She couldn't deny that something, whatever it was, had definitely changed in her life, though. Their supposed kids must have come from somewhere.

"Remy helped me wi-"

"Anna!" The deep voice that busted into the room startled her , but the warm pair of muscular arms that immediately encircled her upper body was far more shocking.

"And in record time." Hank ever-so-softly chuckled to himself before patting Remy on the shoulder to ask him to back away from the patient. "You were at least fifteen minutes out when I paged you."

Remy LeBeau, her husband for the day according to everyone, stepped back for a moment and looked Anna up and down. She couldn't really blame him for the action since she followed suit. It was hard not to look him over after the way they'd left each other ages ago; soaking wet on the shores of a lonely bayou.

Like the rest of the X-Men, he too looked older, but it did little to take away from that rebel-without-a-cause quality he'd radiated at their last meeting. Thankfully, he'd abandoned the silly haircut from their youth, and settled on an appealing look that allowed his longer locks to be styled in what she could only assume, since she'd never been the type to know much about hair trends, was called a windswept style. The one thing time hadn't touched was his physique, for as far as she could tell, through his crimson sweater and black pants, he was more muscle than anything.

What was completely captivating about the old and new mister LeBeau, in Anna's humble opinion, was his eyes. The ruby colored irises sparkled like a pair of brilliant stars against a backdrop as dark as the night sky. It was that same unnervingly bold pair, which studied each rise and fall of her chest and every expression that traipsed across her face. She could barely begin to identify, let alone try to dissect, what emotions were shining back at her.

She blinked her eyes a couple of times in an effort to both free herself from the spell of those orbs and regain what was left of her lucidity.

"Hey," Remy's calloused hand tenderly cupped the side of her face, while his thumb gently rubbed her flushed cheek. The expression on his face as he gazed into her eyes, made her breath catch in her throat. "What happened, Chere? You left the kids and then I get a call from Hank that you hurt your head."

"I left them with a… Jubilee." Before she could formulate more of an answer, the young woman was surprised by another tight hug and a tender whisper into her ear.

"Just glad you're okay, mon coeur." He sweetly kissed her full lips then pulled back to look once more into her emerald eyes, "Let's try to keep votre belle tête en toute sécurité, oui?"

Once Remy let go of her and interlocked the fingers of her right-hand with his, Anna found herself at a complete loss for words. It was one thing to be told you have a husband somewhere out in the world, but being cuddled and kissed so lovingly was another story altogether. The index finger of her free hand absentmindedly touched her lips, as if she expected the strange warmth racing through her chest would heat them up as well.

This was real.

The whole, unbelievable, impossible show playing out before her eyes was as real as anything she'd ever known. She took a deep breath through her nose and remembered the only semblance of a clue she had been given; play along.

 _Okay_ , she nervously thought as her hand tentatively squeezed Remy's own and another peculiar tingle of warmth shot through her frame, _then I'll try and play along_ …

* * *

French Translation: Your beautiful head safe, yes?


	4. Don't Know Much About Your World

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men or Anything Related to The X-Men.**

 **Thank you to everyone who looked at the previous chapter. I appreciate you guys and gals taking time out of your lives to take a look at this chapter. Thanks also to Jehilew, tx peppa, and RogueGambit3 for their reviews. And thanks to Jehilew for the many suggestions on the fight scene. Hopefully, it looks a little smoother now.**

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By the time Anna laid eyes on her so called home, the sun had long since slipped below the horizon, leaving behind a starry night equal to any Van-Gogh painting. It was a pretty sight, even to her clouded mind, and the fact the entire crazy night was being played out beneath a glaringly full moon was not lost on her either.

Thankfully, her travel buddy had remained silent for most of the journey. She knew he was staring at her every single time his eyes could safely drift away from the road. Although she didn't care for the strange chill that raced through her chest when she caught sight of those red orbs, Anna could understand exactly why he would stare. Old Anna disguise or not, she must have been quite an oddity in that exam room.

"Just take it easy, Chere."

Of course, the med bay show seemed like a pretty small problem compared to the handsome one sweetly offering to help her out of the car.

"McCoy said them pain pills may make you dizzy."

"Did he?" She mumbled to herself.

Timidly, she took the offered hand and tried to recall everything that went on in that office. Between the pain, confusion, and the distraction of Remy's toasty hand interlocked in her own, some of the medical jargon and care suggestions had been lost on the southerner.

Remy, still determined to ensure her safety, overlooked her quiet mutterings and wrapped a warm arm around her waist.

Hank wanted to run far more tests, including a possible lookie-loo in her head by the professor. Anna may have been about ready to vomit right there in the office thanks to that damn headache, but she kept enough sanity together to put the kibosh on that suggestion. Any idiot could guess it wouldn't take much, if any, examination of her mind to prove she didn't belong there. If they called her bluff this early there would be no way to play along, no time to find the mysterious _it_ , and no freedom from crazy town.

The section of Hank's parting advice that she could recall clearly, was take it easy for a few days and let him know if she felt any odd symptoms. It'd taken a superhuman amount of strength to stop herself from barking out a hoarse laugh and letting him know _exactly_ how long her list of abnormalities was. Still, she'd managed, somehow, to sit semi-attentively through the care instructions, and even added a few head nods at specific moments.

"Hey." Jubilee coolly greeted them as the duo walked into the living room. She was sprawled on the spacious couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table. The area was covered in strewn toys and a half full glass of soda was leaving a water ring on the rustic table. "You feeling any better, girl?"

"Yeah," Anna answered, as Remy finally let go of her to dig out some money from his wallet for the firecracker. "I think so."

"That's okay. You keep it." The young woman pushed the bills back at Remy and motioned towards Anna, "I figure whatever was going on in that head of yours, was pretty serious if you felt you had to jack my car."

"Sorry about that…I'll pay for the gas I used up," Anna mumbled, not liking the small dash of embarrassment washing over her. As far as she was concerned it had been (and still was) an emergency situation. Everyone knew vehicles were free game in an emergency. Didn't they have zombie apocalypse films in this universe?

"Eh, forget it." She waved off the suggestion and started typing something into her phone, "Just remember our deal and we're even."

"Deal?" Remy asked with a hint of suspicion, not in the mood for any more surprises.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Rems. It's just a little joke between us gals." The woman's phone beeped and a wide smile spread across her lips. "Damn. Got to love instant ride apps."

As Jubilee waltzed towards the front door, with a curious Remy hot on her heels, Anna took the free time to examine the house. Seeing some of her personal tastes reflected in the decorations made it a tiny bit easier to accept she was allegedly the co-owner of the place. It still didn't feel like a real home as she climbed the grand staircase, but it wasn't a completely unpleasant response either. With no one staring at her or talking a mile a minute, she was almost able to enjoy exploring the large home.

On the second floor, she spotted two doorways cracked open to allow small amounts of the hall light to creep inside. The first door was covered with artwork of various amphibians and reptiles, as well as some wooden frog-shaped cutouts that'd been painted in bright neon colors. A little ways down the hall was another door coated with sparkling letters, which spelled the name 'Amelia'. Around the pink and purple symbols were a splatter painting or two and a crayon drawing of the little family.

Anna tiptoed closer to the door, unsure whether the pair hidden in the rooms would come after her if they woke up. The artwork, she noted, was far more detailed then either child could produce. On the top of the page, in bright red crayon, was a small dedication, 'Mama and Amelia's family picture'. A joint effort, she figured as she pulled her hand from the picture, would definitely explain the random smears of paint all over the drawing.

"She sure loves that picture." Remy's voice suddenly whispered into Anna's ear, forcing her to jump in surprise.

"What th-"

He held a finger to his lips and motioned to the two doors. Anna took the hint and, after thinking the idea out as best she could through a fading mind, begrudgingly followed him to the room at the end of the hall.

Once inside, what was obviously the master bedroom, Anna's eyes left the man's face and began to slowly drink in the beauty of the space. She'd been impressed with the living room and surprised by the extent of the kitchen, but this area outshone all of the others by leaps and bounds.

The king sized bed on the far wall was coated in a rich turquoise comforter, that accentuated the ocean scape paintings hung selectively around the room. A silver colored vanity mirror stood against the opposite wall, its attached desk covered in random piles of cosmetic products and framed family pictures. To the left of, what she assumed was her vanity set, stood another door that most likely led to an attached master bath. Almost diagonally across from the duo, stood a small balcony, just large enough to house two chairs and a tiny side table.

"Why don't we get ready for bed, hm?" Remy's strong arms enveloped Anna's middle but he loosened the hold when his wife froze instead of relaxing into the embrace. "You okay?"

"You know," She stepped away and tried to think of something reasonable to say.

 _I'm not your real wife_ or _I'm worried I can't keep my powers down like the Anna here does_ , just didn't seem to fit the bill. Sure, she was supposed to play along, but she really wasn't certain she could make it through an entire night snuggled tightly against the womanizing Remy LeBeau.

What if she absorbed him in her sleep? Or what if he tried to pull something and _then_ she absorbed him? Walking around for weeks with whatever could possibly be swimming through the rugged southerner's head was not on her to-do list. She already knew far more than any outside observer ever should thanks to his earlier texts.

"What is it, Chere?" He asked sympathetically, appearing genuinely worried about her refusal to show any outward emotion.

"I think I'm just gonna sleep downstairs." She finally threw out, for lack of a better-planned response, "The couch might help me feel better."

Instead of the fear for her sanity she expected to flitter across his face, Remy sighed and rubbed the back of his head in mild annoyance, "You're still mad about this morning?"

"Yes?" She answered a little too uncertainly, so she hurriedly added, "I mean, yeah. Yeah, I'm still really upset."

"Thought we finished this one, Anna. We talked about it this morning, non?"

"Well," She countered feeling a new confidence as she grabbed one of the pillows, "I'm… _I'm_ just not over it and I need a little space to think about… it."

Remy let out a slow breath and grumbled, in what she incorrectly assumed was defeat, before taking the pillow right out of her hands, "Look, Chere, be mad at Remy all you want, but I'm not leaving you alone when you're injured."

"Well, we're not both sleeping in that bed." She bluntly informed him, then yanked the pillow back and tossed it onto the floor.

"What you doing now?"

"Making a pallet." She snapped and barely resisted the urge to cap her sentence with a quick, _duh_.

Remy took the pillow back once more and held it so tightly she couldn't yank it out of his grasp, " _Seriously_? You are so upset you want to sleep on the _floor_?"

Surprisingly, the silliest part of the argument wasn't the fact the two hardheaded southerners were quarreling about, for all Anna knew, a non-existent topic. No, the strangest part was how quickly the young spitfire found herself caught up in the entire production. All she wanted was to sleep without Remy dangerously close to her. Was that really so much to ask?

"Yes, seriously! I just want a little time to think." She growled harsher and crossed her arms over her chest, before tossing out a sarcastic barb, "If that's okay with you, swamp rat."

Remy blinked and appeared at a loss for words for a second.

It was a strange sight, even to the inexperienced Anna, so she took the moment to really study his face. The Cajun had always been so suave and sophisticated the few times they'd met. He was the only man she knew that could look collected and smooth while swimming in a gator-filled swamp. Yet, here he was, staring at her like the world lost all sense just because she refused to sleep near him. Surely she couldn't be more unnerving then a giant swamp creature!

"How hard did you hit your head, woman?" He shook his own and rubbed his forehead as a headache started to grow. Anna didn't blink an eye and appeared even more annoyed by his statement.

"Fine." He grumbled the answer with greater irritation than she expected and pulled a blanket off the small padded bench at the foot of their bed. "You sleep in the bed and I'll take the chair."

"You're gonna sleep in a chair?" She questioned a little softer as the man dragged the armchair over to her side of the bed.

" _What_?" His frustration shone through the growing exhaustion, "You got a problem with me in a chair now, too?"

"No." She shook her head; unsure why she felt uneasy watching him lay a blanket over the wing style seat. She'd gotten exactly what she wanted, and she was safe for the night. There should have been a sudden burst of happiness inside her, but instead, she perched on the edge of the bed and offered an awkward, "Thanks."

"Yeah, sure…" He gave a long sigh and stared at her so forlornly, it left the woman more confused than ever.

Anna busied herself with taking off her shoes and trying to decide whether or not she should try to find some kind of nightgown. There was a chest of drawers not too far away and a wide door to her right that probably led to a closet. But, each time she worked up the nerve to investigate the options, the voice in the back of her head reminded her changing clothes meant getting undressed in front of Remy. She looked back towards the bathroom, wondering if she could find a way to lock herself in for the night, but snapped her head back immediately.

Despite the quick movement, she'd gotten far more than just a fleeting glance of Remy's muscular frame. At least it proved her earlier assessments were correct. That man didn't have an ounce of flab on his body! The glance confused the poor guy worse, prompting Remy to walk right over in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts to study her face far more closely than she liked.

"Anna,"

Was she supposed to look at his chest or his face? Between the two it seemed like either would lead her down the road to saying something completely stupid.

"Anna, what is going on?"

"I'm just…" Forehead. That was the _only_ safe spot to look. "My head really hurts and the lights are too bright over there."

Anna snuggled under the covers and let her gaze fall to the side in hopes that would quiet all discussion on the matter. She heard his feet shuffle across the floor and listened as Remy pulled another blanket off the bench and tossed it onto the chair. The room was silent for a brief moment, lulling her into a false sense of security.

Then suddenly, Remy huffed and grumbled something about a 'stubborn woman' and 'making me go first every time'. Before she could react, he leaned down and lovingly kissed her lips, "Good night. Love you, Anna."

The woman in question blinked her eyes and tried to convince her mouth to shut again. The last thing she'd expected after such a squabble was talk of love. What kind of couple were they anyway? Spitting at each other and then suddenly mushy? As far as Anna knew, they'd been closer to the run away stage than romantic gesture time. It didn't make a lick of sense. Why did he still care after being yelled at and shoved in a chair?

She outwardly flinched as her head started to pound and scrunched her eyes closed. Whatever madness was going on in the LeBeau household, it would have to wait until breathing and blinking no longer threatened to tear her skull apart.


	5. Maybe You Could Show Me How To Try

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men or Anything Related to The X-Men.**

 **Thank you to everyone who looked at the previous chapter. I appreciate you guys and gals taking time out of your day to take a look at this chapter. Big thanks to Jehilew for being an awesome beta reader and a pretty nifty pal too. Thank you to tx peppa, Jehilew, Coco-Chic, and StreakingHerculobus for the lovely reviews!**

* * *

Despite the warmth and genuine coziness of the bed, Anna suffered through a fitful night of sleep. Whenever her head flopped to the left, her eyes zeroed in on the sleepy man keeping watch. Remy's feet rested on the end of the bed and gently touched hers whenever she stretched her long legs.

A faint smile crossed over Remy's face at the soft touch as his eyelids drooped lower and he fought to keep from falling into the calling slumber. She closed her eyes and tried to relax her whirling mind by counting the seconds ticking onward. When the trick failed to ease her into a deep sleep, she popped one eye open and gazed back towards her husband.

Remy'd lost the battle and was lightly snoring in his make-shift bed. It was hard to get a good look at his face through his auburn locks and high reaching blanket, but she could hear the gentle noise of his calm breathing and found it a surprisingly pleasant sound. As drowsiness gradually overcame her, Anna allowed her eyes to linger on Remy until the heavy lids finally closed.

Around six am, which her blurry eyes barely deciphered from the bedside clock, a strange noise startled Anna into the world of the conscious. She couldn't place her finger on the sound, which merely served to further unnerve her. After giving her wild curls a puzzled scratch, two distinct thumps joined the growing list of sounds.

Instinctually, Anna sat up and stared at the multiple door options surrounding her vulnerable position tangled in a mess of blankets. Her warped sense of self-preservation fired into high gear, as she mentally tallied what objects in the spacious bedroom would work best against a variety of intruders. With muscles tightened in preparation for whatever loomed ahead, she curled her legs tightly under her lithe frame…

Just as Remy LeBeau and a foaming toothbrush casually waltzed out of the bathroom.

The sudden appearance startled Anna enough she jolted backward into the dark wooden headboard. The strength of the collision forced the structure to give a noticeable wiggle. She grumbled a few colorful phrases under her breath and gingerly rubbed a head she was quite certain would become permanently dented if the injury trend continued. The sight of Anna hurt, once again, brought Remy, already planning to keep a general watch on his oddly behaving wife, over to examine her as best he could with only his eyes.

"You're still here." She declared incredulously, her voice rough with the cover of sleep.

"Well, yeah," He mumbled through a mouth half full of toothpaste, "I live here."

"Wait," She ignored him and pinched her arm quite hard to try and wake herself from the dream. "I'm still here too…"

"Oui, Chere. You live here, too."

Anna shook her head a little too roughly and tried to pinch her arm once more. This couldn't be right! If she was still here, that meant this wasn't some eerie hallucination or one-night tragedy.

After surviving half a day in these shoes, she was more than ready to go back to her world. Maybe she wasn't at a great point in that life, but at least there was no one she could accidently destroy if they got too close. No one depended on her for a single thing back there. And absolutely nobody there questioned her sanity with a red toothbrush hanging out the side of their mouth…

"Why don't you try and rest, Chere?" He walked back to the adjoining bath and finished rinsing his mouth, before returning to her side, "Already told the kids to play quietly this mornin' and I'll handle breakfast. You just relax."

"Are you telling me other people are awake at the butt crack of dawn?"

"Dawn?" Remy chuckled and offered a grin wide enough to show off the small dimple on the left side of his face, "Nice world you live in Chere. Miss the days when six be early."

"You've got to be kidding me." She rubbed her tired eyes and noticed him do the same. Must have been a long night for everyone, she figured. At least he didn't seem too upset she'd pushed him into a chair for the night. Not to mention, she was slightly grateful he'd found both a t-shirt and pair of pajama pants to cover that muscular frame. As eye-catching as Remy was, something even the nervous Anna could admit was true, she really needed to keep every wit she still had about her.

"Non. We both know Mia the monster is getting closer to waking up at four every day."

His attention left Anna as the sound of energetic footsteps abruptly entered the bedroom. Amelia raced to her dad with record speed and, once she was within arm's reach, he swooped her up into a tight hug. After a sweet embrace, Remy suddenly dipped her towards the floor. The action brought forth a wild string of giggles from the kid.

"Mama!" The girl cried out through big belly laughs as Remy loosened his grip to let her escape onto the bed. He made a silly face and Amelia squealed before crawling to Anna's side. "Daddy monster!"

In spite of her confusion and exhaustion, Anna felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips.

Amelia pulled her mother's arm around her shoulders and kicked her feet excitedly when Remy took an overdramatic step closer. The Cajun winked at Anna then gave a pitiful sounding roar for Mia. Disappointed with the sound, she shook her head so hard the ringlet curls slapped Anna's arm and demanded a bigger roar.

"Daddy monsters don't do big roars, petit," Remy explained with mock seriousness.

"No?" She asked, eyes full of curiosity.

"Non," He looked to Anna wondering if she'd feel up to playing along, despite the weirdness of her behavior over the past twenty-four hours. "Only mama monsters do big roars."

On cue, Amelia turned her giant green eyes up to Anna and requested with her best smile, "Mama monster?"

Anna stared at the two faces gazing at her so earnestly in turn. It was somewhat entertaining to watch Remy playfully stomp around and make faces, but she wasn't sure she wanted to join in just yet. The whole thing felt pretty silly, and she was not finding it easy to think straight as it was. Still, Amelia raised her pudgy hand and patted Anna's cheek so sweetly, she figured she could at least _try_ the game.

" _Roar_?"

The pathetic sound left a very unimpressed kid, who turned her gaze right back to Remy and declared, "Daddy play! No Mama!"

How was it possible a kid she'd known half a day could kick her in the gut that easily?

Anna hated to admit it, but something about the way the girl dismissed her and scrambled back to Remy almost bothered her a tiny bit. It was utterly ridiculous, she convinced herself, utterly ridiculous in every sense of the word. Did she care what these fantasy people thought of her? Not at all. They weren't going to get under her skin if she had anything to say about it.

"Now, petit," Remy smoothed the girl's curls back as she held her arms up towards him, "You don't mean that. Mama's just a little tired this mornin'."

"Mama no play," Amelia added with a small point at the brunette woman, as if tattling on a misbehaving friend.

The words rang like a bell in Anna's head forcing memories of the crazy evening prior to race through her mind. The one thing that strange lady suggested was, _try playing along_. She was stuck in this world until she figured out what the heck this mysterious _it_ thing was, and if Amelia was already calling her out for being a stick in the mud she wasn't getting any closer to an exit.

"Mama loves to play with you." Remy pulled Anna from her thoughts as he picked Amelia up from the bed, "Let her rest and she'll play with you later, Mia."

"No," Anna spoke up as the realizations became crystal clear. If she wanted out, she needed to try and follow their rules. How hard could it be to be a mom for a day anyway?

"I'll play with Amelia while you make breakfast."

The way Remy smiled at her was baffling. There was a strange warmth to the expression and a hint of something she would've almost called love. At least, it reminded her of the faraway gazes she'd seen in Kitty's sappy romcoms.

Why was he so mushy over one little agreement? It seemed silly for anyone to be that relieved she wanted to help out, especially since she was apparently the kid's parent in this world. Deep down, Anna knew labeling Remy's reaction as irrational might not have been completely mature, but it definitely helped take her mind off the way her heart gently jumped at the sight of his grin.

…

She'd assumed handling a bright-eyed two-year-old would be easy as pie, particularly in a room so over flowing with toys and games. Amelia'd destroyed such notions in a mere thirty minutes, forcing Anna to throw in the single-parent towel and suggest they rejoin Remy downstairs.

The half-awake woman clutched the stair railing to keep herself steady while the blissfully happy Amelia charged down the steps straight to the kitchen. Upon entering the space, already filled with the smells of coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice, Anna noticed the look of curiosity decorating Remy's features. She didn't blame him in the slightest for giving his daughter a double take; any sane person would've offered the kid a slack jaw and scrunched stare of confusion.

The past half hour had been filled with various levels of frustrated 'No!' to every outfit Anna offered. By the time the closet was picked halfway clean (she'd never understand why someone that young needed so many different clothes anyway), she tossed her hands in the air and exclaimed, 'Fine! Pick whatever you want!' It must have been the magic phrase, because the kid instantly jumped into the pile of clothing and grabbed more pieces then her tiny arms could carry.

While Anna poured herself a cup of coffee, she tried to swallow back an honest laugh as both Remy and Oliver stared unblinkingly at the proud little girl. Amelia'd taken great care during her fashion whirlwind to ensure her pink unicorn rain boots, white bunny beanie hat, and one-piece tiger suit from Halloween made it into the final ensemble. On top of her striped costume, she'd also decided it was absolutely necessary to put a pair of her brother's hand-me-down khaki shorts that were covered in tiny alligators.

"Is that a cape?" Remy whispered to Anna, never pulling his eyes from Amelia as she twirled around the floor to make the cape wave in the wind.

"She wanted to pick her own clothes. It's good for creativity and all that." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders and a long sip of coffee.

Yes, that was it. Creativity sounded far better than admitting she'd given in to a two-year-old's bizarre, and _quite_ loud, demands.

"Well, petit." Remy placed the bowl of ingredients he'd been mixing down and kneeled to look Amelia in the eyes, "You certainly are un gros fille now, hm?"

"I did it!" She chirped while Anna let out a small chuckle into her coffee cup when the child took a heroic stance.

Remy softly laughed at the girl's antics, not wanting to distract from her moment of joy, before standing back up and returning to his pancake batter. He whipped the ingredients skillfully and seemed far more relaxed then Anna had ever seen him in this world or the other. As if his mind was slowly starting to ease and he didn't feel the need to hide his emotions from anyone in the room. She could almost describe his appearance as peaceful, a far cry from the shifty and self-centered behaviors she'd always associated with the name Remy LeBeau.

The moment was short-lived, as all serene times in Anna's life were, and soon the quiet kitchen was interrupted by a rather aggressive beeping noise. She assumed it was an overly energized kitchen timer before Oliver groaned and Remy pulled a small x-shaped communicator from his pocket.

During the wild events of the previous day, Anna'd gathered some significant beliefs about this strange world. She knew she was somehow on talking terms with the X-Men, she knew everyone were _a lot_ older, and she even knew the X-Men apparently had no problem letting Remy into their home… but despite the glaring list of facts, she hadn't made the final connection that Remy was an X-Man himself. It seemed far too structured and confining for a man as energetic and elusive as the Cajun. Why would he sign up for a job that kept him a team player and not a solo star?

"Looks like they need a few of Remy's skills." He sighed and shoved the communicator back into his pocket. "Stormy's got quite a rescue mission in the works."

"Working with the X-Men…" She mumbled almost to herself, but Remy caught the statement.

"I know Chere, for someone supposed to be reserved for special missions, they sure got no problems calling Remy in." He walked over and snaked his arms around her middle so smoothly, she had no time to protest, "I'll just tell them no this time. You need a break today so I'll stay home."

"Didn't you say it was a rescue mission?" Her fears of being so close to Remy and the years of X-Men training drilled into her head collided into an internal storm of anxieties, "There might be someone out there who needs your help."

"And what if a certain stubborn femme needs Remy's help too?" He questioned her softly and offered a sweet kiss between her eyebrows.

"I just… uh," Anna stumbled for words as the warm hug and delicate kisses began to slowly melt away the iron-clad argument of being left alone by everyone in this strange place.

"Aunt Kitty's coming." Oliver suddenly piped up from the kitchen island. He placed his crayon down and looked to his dad, "She's gonna take us to the museum."

"Anna?" Remy looked back at her, still slightly worried about leaving the woman alone after yesterday.

"Yeah…" She mumbled out, feeling her face flush and heart race, as they remained stuck in the warm embrace, "I'll have Kitty if I feel weird or tired."

"Alright," Remy relented rather slowly and freed one of his hands to lift up her chin so she had to stare into his eyes, "Call me if you need anything." Without a pause, his head leaned forward and captured her lips in a loving kiss, "Je t'aime, Anna."

As Remy reluctantly let go of his wife and walked up the stairs to get his bike keys, Anna remained frozen. Below her feet, Amelia started noisily dragging things out of the cabinets and Oliver yelled at her to be quiet, but Anna heard none of it. Instead of speaking to anyone, she once again raised a hand and gently touched her warm lips.

She could say one thing for certain about her fake husband; he sure knew how to kiss a woman.


	6. Don't Know Much About Your Life

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men Or Anything Related To The X-Men.**

 **Thanks to everyone who looked at the previous chapter. I appreciate you guys taking time from your busy lives to look at this chapter and story. Thank you to Jehilew for awesome beta work on this chapter. :). And thank you to Coco-Chic for a sweet review.**

* * *

Not long after Remy left the spacious home, Anna took over the breakfast preparations. Pancakes weren't a notoriously hard dish for even basic chefs, but it became rather challenging once her five-year-old shadow kept adding in his two cents. Everything she did, from flipping the circles to pulling out the plates, was not how _daddy_ did it. By the time the food was ready and placed in front of the two kids, Anna was, quite understandably, more than a little annoyed with Oliver the Picky.

The boy thanked her, convincing Rogue that Remy had at least taught his son _some_ manners, and dug into his two pancakes. Amelia, on the other hand, merely gazed at the dish with slight uncertainty. Anna pushed the plate closer to her, but the kid shoved it away. Trying to outthink the little girl, she pulled out the bottle of syrup and poured a nice sized drizzle over the slightly burnt pancakes.

"No," Amelia stated when Rogue tried to cajole her to eat by reminding her they were delicious. "Bunny."

"Bunny?" Anna sighed and left the girl alone for a moment when the cell phone in her pocket spit out its cheery tune.

"Hello?" She mumbled into the receiver, still shocked anyone else would be awake at this hour besides her crazy group of strangers.

"Anna," Kitty's weary voice replied over the sound of a crying baby, "Look, I know we promised the kids a trip to the museum today, but Addison woke up in the middle of the night with some kind of bug. And with her dad out on that rescue mission, I really need to stay here with her."

"No problem." Anna held the phone a few inches from her ear when the baby began to cry at ear-piercing levels. Really, Anna did feel a bit sympathetic for Kitty and her daughter. Having a small taste of this lunacy offered her a new insight and sympathy for families. "We'll just skip this museum thing."

"No!" Oliver dropped his fork and directed a look of growing frustration at her.

"Stop shouting." She grumbled and walked closer to the upset boy, "Kitty can't go so we are just going to skip it for now."

"You promised!"

"He's right," Kitty, obviously hearing Oliver's protests through the noisy phone line, added, "There is no reason you guys can't go. Addison, Ellie, and I will go later, but you should go and have fun. I mean we kinda like owe them after having to flake because of missions twice now."

Anna looked at Oliver, his jaw set in a stubborn stance that appeared, even to her, to be a pure mix of a Rogue's temper and a Cajun's determination. So this whole museum trip meant enough to him to throw that much pouting out? Well, being jilted for X-Men stuff probably got rather old to anyone, let alone a kid. It still seemed like a bad idea, but Anna had to do something with them all day anyway. How hard could a simple trip to the museum be?

While she delivered the news to Kitty and hung up the phone, Oliver cheered happily and even offered her another sincere thank you. It was a pretty neat feeling to have done something that made the kids happy, even for a stick in the mud like Rogue. When she glanced back to Amelia and the untouched pancake, though, the feeling of confidence wavered.

"Look, kid," She pushed the plate back at her supposed daughter and gave her a stern expression, "You need to eat something."

"No bunny," Amelia repeated leaving Anna as confused as ever.

"Daddy always makes them bunnies." Oliver, feeling a tad bit happier with his strangely behaving mother, added.

"Bunnies?" She grumbled and the boy just shrugged his shoulders. "Look, Amelia, these taste the same as bunny pancakes."

"Bunnies!" She screeched growing more annoyed.

"Alright, alright," Anna dragged the plate away and started carving the circles into something resembling a bunny. Couldn't be that hard to make a bunny head out of a circle. "There. Now eat."

Amelia and Oliver stared at the pancakes with wide eyes. Neither appeared all that impressed with the hack and slash job their mom had done with the food. Resistant to eat a different shaped breakfast, Amelia stuck her thumb into her mouth while Oliver poked her food with his fork.

"They look like they got hit by a truck."

"Truck hit bunny?" Amelia asked with newfound concern.

"No, Amelia. The bunny is fine."

"Where's its other ear?" Oliver pointed it out with his fork, "It got hit by a _really_ big truck."

Amelia's eyes started to water out of sympathy for the injured flapjack, "Bunny hurt…"

"The bunny wasn't hit by anything!" The tired woman exasperatedly reminded the kids _again_.

"How do you know?" Oliver, shining with the same stubbornness as his mother, pestered her further.

"Because _I_ was hit by a truck, okay? Now quit picking on the stupid pancake."

"Mama hurt?" Amelia's large green eyes shifted from the rabbit and up to her mother, who was currently muttering a long string of words under her breath.

The whole thing was becoming far more ridiculous than any sane person would tolerate. She knew the kid needed to eat, but there was little strength left in her to fight the pancake war. Instead of pushing the topic further, she grabbed a jug of fruit juice from the fridge and filled up a big cup for Amelia.

"Daddy always puts water in her juice." Oliver corrected her as Mia happily took the Sippy cup.

" _Hey_ ," Anna lightly growled, " _Who's the parent here_?" She held up the jug and noted the ingredients. Based on the juice company's calculations, a glass that big was worth double the fruit servings and had only… "That is a lot of sugar."

Rogue turned her head back to the little girl as the curly-headed mosquito sipped the last drop of juice and held out her cup like a drunk demanding another beer.

…

The North Salem Museum of Cultures was only ten minutes from Remy's house. At least, that was the pretty number the GPS offered to normal people. According to the watch on Anna's wrist, it took their ragtag group a total of twenty-four minutes to merely arrive at the parking lot. Between fights in the car, over no one wanting help with their car seats, no one agreeing on a radio station, and, of course, no one being able to stand another minute of the hyper Amelia's version of screech-singing, they somehow managed to survive the brief road trip.

"Okay," Anna kept a tight hold of Amelia's hand to ensure she did not wander off. She was painfully aware of how many families were staring at the little girl decked out in the wildest outfit most rational people could imagine. "Now, two rules here." Oliver hung his jacket in the public coat room and gazed at her with less than respect, "One, stay near me. Two, what I say goes. Got it?"

"I wanna look at the rain forest first." He countered her statement with his own obstinate response, proving he was not sold anymore on her than she was on this life.

Despite the rocky start to the morning, and Amelia's constant attempts to race through the exhibits, they made pretty good time. By noon the trio had explored their way through two continents worth of countries and even Anna was willing to admit it wasn't the worst way she could have spent the day. When the giant clock in the center of the England display dinged loudly to announce the hour, both Oliver and Amelia started chanting for lunch.

Years may have passed since Anna's real time frame, but overpriced museum cafeterias hadn't changed in the slightest. The menu boasted tons of _authentic_ dishes from far away places. There were even a few items that claimed to have insect ingredients, for the more daring connoisseur. Oliver, being strangely cooperative, settled for a hot dog and some fries.

"Two hot dogs." Anna ordered their dishes, before looking back at Amelia, "Want a hot dog?"

"Crunchy!" She shouted excitedly from her place on Anna's hip.

"What?"

"Crunchy!" She repeated and pointed her hand up to the list of a million different foods. "Crunchy sweet!"

"Look, let's just get you a hot dog, okay?" She tried to reason with the two-year-old, proving her inexperience in the parenting arena. "They are good."

"Crunchy sweet! _Want Crunchy_!" The last part of her demand was held out to ridiculous lengths.

When Rogue shook her head negatively again, not wanting to feed the kid any more sugar and still unsure what the heck a 'crunchy sweet' was, Amelia's adorable nature began to fade in record speed. She kicked her legs, let loose a stream of tears and shrieks that left Anna's ear with an unshakable ringing sound, and when all that failed to produce her goal, she bit the hand Anna used to try and push the hair out of her face.

"Ow! Damn that hurts!" Anna grumbled out, forcing whoever wasn't already staring at Amelia's tantrum to turn and glower at her with judgmental eyes, "What the hell was that for?"

Amelia, now on the ground, screamed her demand once more, and then began stomping her rain boot covered feet. Rogue cradled her sore hand against her chest and tried to fight the urge to run away from all the madness and noise. She couldn't take much more of the tantrum or the never ending stares silently, and some verbally, calling her a bad parent. It wasn't like she'd signed up for this social experiment disaster!

"She wants a churro." Oliver finally explained to Anna and pointed at the big picture displayed over the desert menu. "You get one every time."

"Why didn't you say something earlier, Oliver?! How was I supposed to know what the heck she is screaming about!?" Rogue, letting her frustration with the situation out on the kid, barked out. She turned back to the man behind the counter, seemingly missing the look of dejection that crossed her son's face. "Give me a churro, right now."

Once the prize was clutched tightly in her hands, Amelia stopped crying and happily devoured the treat. Anna and Oliver stared apathetically at their hot dogs, neither interested in eating after the scene at the counter. The boy hadn't said a word to her since they sat down, but every time they locked eyes, Oliver immediately shifted his gaze. Part of Anna wanted to say something, to apologize, for yelling at him, but she couldn't form the right sentence in her head. It been a rather long time since she had to face anyone she'd upset that significantly, and she was unsure how to even start talking to him.

Turns out, as Amelia shoved far too much churro in her mouth; the option of talking things out with Oliver was pushed to the wayside. She swallowed the last bite with an audible gulp then placed a hand over her tummy. Mother of the year material or not, Anna knew the universal sign for an upset stomach and instantly grabbed napkins from the table dispenser. Before the kid could even tell Rogue her stomach felt funny, everything went crazy.

Amelia cried due to a mixture of throat pain and fear of having just thrown up on herself. Oliver continued to make various mentions of how gross it looked and how horrible it smelled, forcing Mia to cry harder as her two-year-old pride took a hit. Anna shushed Oliver roughly and tried in desperation to clean the kid up before she started hyperventilating from the sobbing. The napkins helped a little, but even Anna realized she'd need water and paper towels to fix this mess.

"Come on." She grabbed Amelia up into her arms and drug Oliver by the hand over to the restrooms.

"No way!" Oliver protested as they reached the door. He dug his heels into the carpet and shouted to be heard over Amelia's sobs, "That's the girl's room!"

"Ask me if I care!" Anna growled back and tried to stop Amelia from slipping off her hip.

Between the throw up coated girl, the stubborn boy threatening to go dead weight, and her own intense headache, Anna was in no mood to entertain resistance to the plan. She dragged Oliver, still trying his hardest to pry her hand off of his own, inside and ordered, "Stay right there and don't move a muscle."

Once Oliver was settled, Anna set Amelia on the counter. It took her a second or two to calm her own thoughts, before wetting a paper towel and gently wiping her daughter's face off. Anna forced herself to push all of the raging emotions aside and speak calmly to Amelia. It took only a few minutes before the cries decreased in volume to small, pitiful whimpers. By the time most of her outfit was cleaned up, she sniffled loudly and held her arms out to Anna.

"Hug mama…"

The request was so tired and heartbreaking that the stressed out woman relented and hugged the kid tightly. There really was no way to explain it in Anna's mind, but the simple hug and whispered, 'Love mama' by Amelia offered her a drop of strength into her overwhelmed mood. Maybe they could finish this trip in one piece after all.

"Alright, Mia," She remembered the nickname used by Remy earlier as she picked the girl back up and carried her over to the hand dryers. She pushed the button and the noisy machine spurred to life, "Let's get you dried off a little and get out of here."

"No dryer!" The girl suddenly shrieked and struggled in Anna's arms. "No dryer!"

"Amelia you can't go out in freezing weather wet." It puzzled Anna as she held the kid up to the dryer and Mia offered a new yell.

"No dryer! Scary!" She kicked and flailed, but when she got no further with her escape plan, she leaned over and bit Anna's shoulder with enough force to almost cause her to drop the girl.

When the weary duo finished the dryer fight minutes later, Anna gazed towards the wall with no shred of good humor left in her body. Her heartbeat started to quicken when she spotted only empty space. She raced down the rows of stalls, calling out to Oliver in hopes he was just hiding somewhere in the area. Upon the realization he had indeed left the group, her mind sped up to new levels of terror. Maybe he was a bit of a stubborn thorn in her side, but she couldn't believe Oliver would just run away like that. What if some anti-mutant crowd noticed his eyes and took him away?!

"Oliver?!" She yelled into the crowds after bursting out of the restroom and raced around the eating area like a madwoman, no longer giving a single care to what the people staring at her with judgmental eyes thought. All that mattered was finding Oliver.

"Oliver, where are you!?"

At the first sight of a security guard, Anna darted over and began babbling so quickly the man held up a hand to demand she stop talking, "Whoa there, young lady."

"Oliver. Lost the kid." She panted out, exhausted from fear and running through the various exhibits. "Can't find. Short, green eyes on black."

"Ah," The man crossed his arms and stared down at her disapprovingly, "I've been getting quite a few complaints about _your_ family today."

"I have to find him. He might have been taken by somebody."

"Are you sure you didn't just _forget_ where you left him?" The man rudely sneered, feeling no pity for both an obvious mutant and, in his opinion, a horrible example of a mother.

"Why I oughta-"

"Excuse me," The scratchy female voice broke into their conversation before Anna could tear the man a new one. Anna looked at the newcomer and felt her bad day worsen by several degrees since standing in full security guard uniform, and her trademark aviator sunglasses was her smart mouth waiting room guide. "I got this one, Bill."

Bill grumbled something about no good mutant families under his breath, but before Anna could strike him, the sunglass woman grabbed her tightly curled fist, "Now, now. Why don't we focus on getting back to Oliver first?"

"You know where he is?" Anna asked hopefully, her anger at the guard lost for the moment as more important things came to her attention.

The mystery woman led Anna and Amelia down the hallways and back into the rain forest room, decorated in a canopy of fake trees and statues of various animals that made their home in the area. Sitting by the display of rainbow colored frogs was a solitary and despondent Oliver. Anna's heart swelled with a sense of relief she'd never experienced before as she immediately raced over to the kid.

"Oliver!" She set Amelia down on the bench and grabbed the boy in a tight hug, "Are you okay?" She held him out at arm's length and once he half-heartedly nodded his head, she gently shook his shoulders, "Don't ever do that to me again! You can't just run away like that!"

"You did yesterday." He grumbled out and broke her hold.

"I'm not the one who could have gotten lost or-"

"Excuse me," The sunglass woman butted into the conversation and pulled Anna up from her kneeling position on the floor. "I think we need to have a little talk. Oliver," The little boy looked up at her attentively, "Why don't you and Amelia go play in the climbing space over there?"

Once the kids scampered off to the area, leaving the women to have a conversation in semi-privacy, Anna let out a very long breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. The whole day once seemed so simple; Take the group to the museum and take them home. How could it have gone so wrong? All she did was try to play by the crazy woman's rules!

"Of course, they listen to you…" She groused through a deep frown.

"Tough day?" The smile on the woman's face did nothing but infuriate Anna.

"This is all your fault."

"We've had this conversation before." She reminded the stubborn brunette, "You and I both know you earned this all on your own."

"No," She countered, "The only thing _we_ know is that _you_ are some evil jackass who enjoys torturing people." Just to add a little extra burn to her insults, Anna gave a bonus jab, "And the whole sunglasses inside thing died out in the nineties, just so you know."

"Someone's in a testy mood." The woman laughed as if the whole growled statement was hilarious.

"You know what? Just shut up and let me out of here. I played your stupid little game and I am done."

"Played?" The words were repeated in surprise and slight disappointment, "Oh no, my dear. You made a few hollow attempts at joining in, but you aren't close to really trying yet. It doesn't count for you to barely attempt to figure things out. Remember, you are here for a reason, Anna."

"Thanks, Yoda. Real helpful and all," Anna snarled sarcastically and turned on her heel to stare the lady in the eyes, or sunglasses as the case was, "Just tell me what the reason i-"

The woman who'd been standing no more than two feet away from Anna was gone.

She'd heard no footsteps racing away and saw no hint of the lady near any of the doorways. As another security guard strolled by, she flagged him down and tried to think of something more intelligent to ask, besides 'Did you see a lady in sunglasses disappear into thin air?'. The guard explained slowly, to the frazzled woman, that not only had he seen no sign of another guard in the area, but that there were no women matching the description working at the museum.

Anna sat down on the bench next to the climbing area and tried to dissect what in the world she was supposed to do now. She'd tried running away and she'd tried playing along. Nothing was going to get her out of this nightmare. She rested her head in her hands and took a slow breath as the overwhelming panic started to settle into a rather strong urge to just crumple into a ball and call it quits.

"Are you my real mama?"

The soft, timid question pulled Anna out of her depression and forced her to stare at Oliver standing directly beside her bench, "I don't really know." She answered honestly, at least in her opinion, "Not exactly."

"When will you know?"

"I think," She took a slow, jagged breath and looked him in the eyes, "Once I figure out how to make all of this work."

"Is that gonna be a really long time?"

"For both our sakes Oliver," She patted his shoulder gently, "I hope not."

The somewhat sweet moment between the two was disrupted as Anna's phone started to buzz in her pocket. She pulled out the device and let Oliver punch in the code since she'd forgotten to change the lock the night before.

Once the screen opened to the text messages, she clicked on the newest from a number her phone did not recognize; _Scheduled an earlier flight to make it to town in time to help with last minute party prep. I'll send you the new flight itinerary tonight. See you soon, M._

"Oliver," She looked at the boy, who seemed just as tired as her, "Who in the world is M?"


	7. Don't Wanna Be Alone Tonight

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men Or Anything Related To The X-Men. I Also Do Not Own The Song 'Taking Chances' By Celine Dion.**

 **Thank you to everyone who looked at this chapter and the rest of the story. I appreciate you guys and gals taking time out of your busy lives to look at this story. A special thank you to the very kind Mrs. Jehilew who beta read the chapter. Thank yous to my two new reviewers as well. It was very nice of the the guest reviewer and Karen to leave some thoughts on the story. And here is the new chapter:**

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"Mama…"

The high-pitched voice filtered through Anna's foggy memory, disrupting the small amount of peace she'd mysteriously acquired.

"Mama wake?" A sudden slap on her temple forced the woman to groan and flinch.

In response to a follow-up tap on her forehead, Anna pulled the warm blanket over her head. It was a cozy little cocoon and she refused to even consider evacuating. The voice, on the other hand, believed it was far past time to rise and shine. Without warning, a sharp finger poked her eye through the blanket. She jerked away from the mystery force and sat up, fully awakened from her slumber.

"What the…" She pulled the cover off her face and stared bleary-eyed at a very pleased looking Amelia. After suppressing a more colorful groan, Anna glanced towards the clock on her nightstand. "It's five thirty in the morning."

"Breakfat!" Amelia cheered, not disturbed in the slightest by a possible breach of etiquette.

"It's way too early for this." The tired woman groused as Amelia unsuccessfully attempted to crawl onto the mattress. "Go back to bed."

Anna tried, oh, did she ever try, to close her eyes and block out the chattering kid demanding various breakfast foods while incessantly tugging on her sleeve. In true Amelia fashion, each item on her outlandish list was more sugar filled than the last.

"No, Mama." The giant green eyes decorating Mia's face appeared to grow two sizes as she pushed out her bottom lip and whimpered, "hungry now."

Anna tiredly rubbed her eyes and cringed when she noted a distinct odor of grease and cheese emanating from her shirt. What did they do last night? She searched her memory banks, but could only recall a few traumatic glimpses of some brightly colored pizza and game place, tantrums from both LeBeau monsters, and passing out fully clothed on her own bed sometime past midnight. It was the closest she'd ever come to a completely sober blackout.

The real question, Anna couldn't help but ask, was how had she wound up snuggled under a comforter with her shoes placed neatly by the foot of the bed? It been a miracle she managed to stay awake long enough to make it up the stairs, let alone give a crap about organizing footwear.

"Why don't you ask Rem-" She paused and shook her head as her wits came back to her, "your dad to make breakfast?"

"Daddy not here."

For some reason the explanation surprised Anna. She had no real knowledge of the typical routine in this place, but Remy struck her as the type to be there when everyone woke up in the morning. Where else would a normal person be at five am anyway?

 _Wait a minute_ , She thought, _did he ever make it back from that mission?_

A small drop of foreboding began to fill her stomach and chest. What if something _had_ happened to Remy on the mission? If these kids lost their dad they'd be stuck with her. What good would she be to them? She didn't belong here and she definitely had no freakin' clue what she was supposed to be doing.

"Cell phone," Anna mumbled as she abruptly started patting her pockets and looking under the blanket for the darn thing. All she had to do was call him up and everything would be fine. What were the real chances that this one, out of all the crazy missions Remy LeBeau had gone on through his life, would be the one to end badly? No, she was just overreacting due to the ridiculousness of the hour.

The phone wasn't in the bed or any of her pockets, so Anna moved to the nightstand. She was about to open the drawer when a piece of paper caught her eye. It was amazing how a simple handwritten note could halt her erratic heartbeat almost instantly,

 _Looked like you had a rough day._

 _Try and get some extra sleep and I'll take care of the kids when I get back from my run._

 _See you at one of our favorite date spots._

 _Je t'aime, Remy._

So it was Remy who'd tucked her in last night? She glanced to the other side of the bed and noticed the covers had indeed been moved and the pillow still held an indent from where his head once rested. A small blush washed over her face as she imagined herself cuddled next to Remy. As unnerving as the idea sounded, she couldn't deny this had probably been her most solid night of sleep in ages. Of course, that had to be mostly due to pure exhaustion.

And what was this secretive favorite date spot he'd written about? She re-read the note with a calmer head and tried to imagine what Remy could be hinting at. Getting a favorite date spot wrong would probably cost her at least three points in this bizarre game of life. Three points she certainly couldn't afford to lose.

"Mama." Amelia's patience had worn thin once more, inspiring her to try and pull Anna off the bed by her hand. "Breakfat. Hungry."

"Okay, okay. But you aren't gettin' a cupcake for breakfast." She stood up and noted that aside from the sneakers, she was still fully clothed in her museum outfit from the day before. "Just let me get a shower and change, then I'll cook you something."

"Now, Mama." Mia whined and hung off of Anna's arm, as if the mere act of supporting herself was far too overwhelming to imagine. " _Please_ , Mama. Food now."

"Why don't you watch cartoons while I get ready, huh? You like cartoons right?" She tried to walk towards the bathroom, but found the weight on her wrist impeding her movement. Bribes of unlimited cartoons appeared to be a poor bargaining chip, since Mia howled louder, dropped her wrist, and wrapped with anaconda like strength around Anna's leg.

Maybe she'd only been a mother for two-ish days, but Anna knew that look of frustration building in Amelia's eyes. It was the telltale sign that whoever dared to displease her was about to get the fool bit out of them. Who knew it was possible for something so small and cute to be so vicious?

"Please, Amelia." She felt ridiculous being so desperate to gain Mia's cooperation. But, honestly, she was utterly desperate for at least a chance to brush her teeth and wash the horrid smell of Walt's Pizza Palooza Palace off. "Just wait five minutes."

Rogue knew the moment those tears began to fall from the corners of Amelia's eyes that she'd been outwitted once again. Of course she absolutely refused to go down without a consolation prize, so while Amelia proceeded to cry and threaten a full-blown tantrum, Anna set the speed record for teeth brushing, face washing, and messy bun hair wrangling.

Once they made it downstairs, the kid who'd supposedly been on the verge of starving to death proceeded to refuse the first five foods Anna offered. When the option of toaster waffles finally came into play, Mia agreed and cheerfully talked Rogue's ear off as they cooked. By the time she was playing/eating with her second waffle the exhausted Anna was already working on her third cup of wonderful caffeine. She'd just set a second pot of coffee on to brew when a warm voice floated through the kitchen.

"Mornin', mon coeur." Remy smiled and held up a paper bag decorated with a bright logo and grease stains, "Wasn't sure you'd be up for our Tuesday morning date."

 _This_ was their date? She blinked in surprise as her husband grinned happy as could be. What was so special about coffee and some takeout? Married people sure had strange opinions about what constituted a date.

Remy kissed the top of Amelia's head then strolled over to Anna with a big smile on his lips. She braced herself for another startling kiss, but instead of a full lip lock, he merely pecked her cheek and pulled out a silver wrapped tube, "Spicy sausage and egg burrito for the lady."

"No cheese, right?" The question popped out before her brain even registered the words.

"What you think," He playfully teased, "I'm new here?"

Anna took the burrito and couldn't help but laugh softly. After living in the north for so many years, she was fully aware just how difficult it was to come by good Mexican food. Sure, there were tons of restaurants north of the Tennessee border who claimed they served Mexican food, but the authentic cuisine was only found in the south. One bite into the warm wrap and her smile grew even wider. If Remy had anything going for him at six am, it was respectable taste in food.

"Good?" He shot her a smug grin that caused a light blush to warm Anna's face.

"Not bad, Cajun." She leaned against the counter and took another large bite.

"Not playin' nice this morning, Chere?" He shook his head and stood so close Anna could smell the intoxicating mix of sweat and natural Remy. With his wife distracted, he leaned down and whispered into her ear, "you know we have ways of making you more friendly…" He gave the tiniest nip to the small patch of skin below Anna's ear, forcing the woman's heart to bang erratically around her rib cage.

 _What the in the world was that?_ It was completely impossible to remember how to breathe, let alone think up some witty comeback to push him away. He'd barely touched her skin, but it was as if she could still feel the heat of that nip.

She wasn't a complete idiot. Even with poison skin, she'd sat through enough romantic movies and novels to be well aware of things like love bites. Not to mention she'd lived in a boarding house full of over energetic mutants. You couldn't have thrown a rock in the X-mansion without hitting some lovey dovey couple making goo goo eyes at each other.

Yeah, she was pretty much aware of a variety of romantic moves. She'd just never imagined that she, the untouchable one, would ever experience it. If something that small pushed her body into such an intense response, common sense would say she'd probably keel over if he took it any further. Then again, that little troublemaker in the back of her mind seemed to be growing more and more interested in pushing Remy right back. Yup, that proved it. She should never think before ten am.

"Already six thirty?" Remy chuckled as he fully walked away from Anna and turned his attention to the wall clock. He glanced back over to Amelia who was happily making puddles on the counter with the leftover milk in her Sippy cup, "Is Oliver staying home from school today?"

"School?" Anna mumbled in confusion, her blissful mood starting to rip at the seams.

"Those Monday holidays always throw the schedule off." Remy nodded his head, "course we both know Ollie'd be perfectly happy to sleep right past their seven thirty start time."

" _Seven thirty start?_ Crap!" Anna groaned and found her dislike for maternal tasks grow by leaps and bounds. Without a single word to her confused family, she charged out of the room and stormed up the stairs, "Oliver! Get up! We're gonna be late!"

…

As the bulky van maneuvered through the snowy streets and morning traffic, Anna made two strict promises:

One, she'd never make fun of GPS systems again. Sure there was tons to poke fun at (the constant shouts of 'recalculating' being at the top of her joke list), but if it wasn't for the handy little device plastered to her dashboard, she'd never have been able to locate the ultra preppy Eliza Cornwall Academy.

Two, whenever she made it back to the real world, she would never buy a minivan. Yeah, the interior space was extremely roomy and it seemed like the newest model around, but she couldn't get over the basic fact that she, Anna Marie Darkholme, was the owner of a soccer mom's dream car. What happened to the days when all she needed was a motorcycle, old-fashioned paper map, and the open road?

After pulling into the long line leading to the lower school's drop off area, Anna settled herself in for a lengthy wait. Waiting had never been her strong suit, but it did offer certain advantages. If she was going to keep up this whole _actually try_ to be the future Rogue scenario, she needed more details about what she was up against. They hadn't gotten off on the best foot, but so far Oliver hadn't seemed too angry with her this morning. Theoretically, if she was sneaky enough, she could get some extremely needed answers.

"So, Oliver," She patted the steering wheel absentmindedly and watched the boy in her rear view mirror, "about your dad's party."

"Dad party! Dad party!" Amelia shouted from her car seat.

"Shhhh, Amelia." Oliver chastised the girl, "It's a surprise."

"Dad party!" Mia responded, forcing Anna to cover her ears.

"No! It's a surprise! You gotta not say anything!"

"No supper eyes!" The smaller of the dueling siblings pouted.

"It's _surprise_ , Amelia. You're not old enough to understand. You're just a little kid."

"Big kid!" She bellowed even louder, before the two flew headfirst into the noisiest 'Nuh-uh' versus 'Uh-huh' squabble Anna'd ever heard.

"Enough!" Rogue snapped, putting an end to the fight and causing a few people in line to stare curiously at their car. "Yes, the party is a surprise, but since your dad isn't here we can talk about it. Okay?" The pair agreed easily enough, so she jumped forward, "So Oliver, what did I tell you about the party?"

"I know, mom," He sighed as they approached the drop off zone, "I got to dress nice and use my manners."

"Yeah, but did I mention anything about what day the-" Her question was cut short as the car stopped and Oliver unbuckled his seat belt. Before she could pester him further, he hoped out with a simple, _See you later!_ "Oliver, don't forget to shut the doo-" Even her simple request fell on deaf ears as the boy raced off towards the building. "Never mind. I'll get it. Not like I have anything better to do or some giant ass line of cars behind me."

Anna exited the van and grabbed the sliding door handle. When she reached the halfway point, a high-pitched voice called out her name from somewhere nearby. Turning to her left she spotted a tall, raven-haired woman joyfully waving at her from a sporty two-door vehicle. The woman sent her son off towards the school building then waltzed over to Anna on a pair of three-inch stiletto boots.

How in the world did anyone look like that at seven in the morning? Between the immaculate make-up, ankle breaking shoes, and trendy princess style winter coat, Anna was almost certain she was being waved down by a real-life Barbie. A Barbie who didn't give a hoot the people parked behind her car were about to start using both their horns and grown-up words.

"Anna," Barbie walked as slowly as she pleased and attempted to place a hand on Anna's shoulder once she was in arm's reach. When the uncomfortable woman flinched, Barbie pulled her hand back and perched it on her hip, "I just wanted to say how excited I am for the party tomorrow."

The party was _tomorrow_?! All thoughts of the living Barbie flew out of Anna's head as she tried to ascertain how to throw a party for who knows how many people, at who knows where, promptly at mystery o'clock.

"Do you smell something cheesy?" Barbie scrunched her nose in distaste as the scent of Anna's pizza misadventures drifted over.

She made a mental note to burn the clothes she was unfortunately still wearing, then pushed her internal feelings of inadequacy aside to focus on the bigger problem at hand, "I'm glad you will be able to make it at…"

"Oh, don't worry, my dear," She gave an airy laugh and waved her free hand in the air, "I won't ruin the surprise. I'll be at your house by six o'clock just like the invitation said."

"Uh, good. Thanks." She mentally calculated how much time this discovery left her to prepare for the party. The answer the tired muscle between her ears spat out made her feel queasy. "You wouldn't happen to remember how many-"

The sudden blare of a car horn halted the discussion and forced raven-haired Barbie to waltz back to her own vehicle (still as leisurely as she pleased, of course). Anna sighed and looked back into her own car for a moment to check on Amelia.

The kid offered a big grin and announced, "Supper eyes, Mama!"

…

Despite the heartbreak it offered, Anna curbed her initial plan to race back to the house and shower in favor of perusing various party supply outlets and a maze like grocery store. She decided on spicy chili for the dinner, mainly because even though she had no earthly idea if Remy would like it, she was certain she could make the dish stretch pretty far. Not to mention it was a rather simple recipe, which was always a plus in Anna's opinion.

By one in the afternoon she'd made a significant dent in her to-do list. She'd hidden the various party provisions in the hall closet, dumped the groceries on the kitchen table, and even managed to convince Amelia to go down for a nap after a late lunch. By the time she exited the master bedroom freshly showered and decked out in an oversized sweater and holey jeans, she let herself sink into a feeling of accomplishment.

This homemaker stuff wasn't nearly as hard as she first thought it would be. Some of the errands had even been fun. Amelia'd been in good spirits and participated in their adventure by naming the shape and color of everything Anna put in her cart. Like any good wild animal trainer, Anna had known better then to let the good behavior go unrewarded. She'd even broken her own rule and given Mia a cookie from the grocery bag before she tucked her in for a hopefully lengthy nap.

The plush feeling of the oversized couch was a welcome sensation for the tired woman. She pulled the crocheted throw on the back of the couch down and wrapped herself up in a snug little cocoon. It wasn't as amazing as the comforter version from that morning, but it would do for the moment. She stretched her legs out to rest on the coffee table and noticed some albums haphazardly stacked in the piece's built in shelf.

This was a sign. It had to be a sign that she was figuring this whole thing out a little. Oliver off to school on time, Amelia actually sleeping, errands almost done, and now a chance to see what this version of Remy and herself had been like in the past? Definitely a good sign. The, possibly hazardous, feeling of contentment began to grow as she picked up the first scrapbook and flipped through the pages.

Images of herself clothed in a beautiful wedding gown standing next to an extremely handsome looking Remy in a custom made tux drifted past her eyes. It was surreal to see herself so happy yet have absolutely no memories of this life-changing event. She knew simply from the way the couple in the photograph stared at each other that they were truly in love.

She just couldn't _feel_ it.

Yes, being close to Remy was more exciting then she could have anticipated. Anna would even admit, to herself, that merely locking eyes with him from across the room sent strange shivers down her spine. But love? No, she didn't love Remy LeBeau.

She wasn't this Anna. She wasn't the one who would reconnect with Remy, learn to handle her powers, and ride off into the sunset arm in arm. Her time here was temporary and her role was simply that of a substitute. All she could expect (all she would ever let herself expect) was a few attempts to mimic the real Anna Marie and maybe, just maybe, a few moments of happiness. As long as she kept reminding herself this wasn't actually her life, she would make it out without any problems or, far worse, a broken heart.

 _Eventually_ , she thought as she clutched the photo album to her chest, unable to stare at any more moments of fake joy, and let her eyes close, _I'll be alone on that icy bridge again and this will be nothing more than a brief fantasy._

…

"Mama! Mia pretty pretty!"

The delighted screech slapped Anna back into the world of the conscious. Her eyes flew open and stared unblinkingly at a tattooed Amelia LeBeau.

"What did you…"

Amelia noticed her mother was finally awake and hopped over to the couch quite pleased with her afternoon activities. The coffee table was almost completely coated with marker scribbles and a few shakily written letters. What wasn't on the table appeared to be all over Mia's hands. The once pale appendages were now stained an ugly greenish brown color due to a mixture of colored markers bleeding together.

"What did-" The repetitive question was cut short as Anna examined Mia's crumb covered face, "Did you eat something?" The hyper girl giggled manically forcing Rogue to say a silent prayer that whatever the kid ingested was non-toxic. "What did you eat Amelia? Tell me, _now_."

"Cookies!" Came the jovial response proving Anna's threats lacked any importance to Mia. Instead of hanging her head in shame, she pulled out a crushed, lint covered cookie from her pocket and set it on Anna's knee, "Share with Mama."

"Where in the world did you get a cookie?" Anna's head shot up as the realization finally sunk in. "Oh, no."

She leapt from the couch completely forgetting about the blanket tightly wrapped around her body. While Amelia laughed and clapped her chubby hands, Anna fought past the blanket and jumped back to her feet. All it took was one glance at her previously clean kitchen to drown her in a sense of doom.

Over half of the grocery bags had been pulled off of the table. A small tower of boxes that looked to have been either fallen on or used as a makeshift stool sat to the far left. The only description Anna could fathom for the mess on the right side of the room was a sugar disaster. Not only had the boxes of cookies and various desserts for the party been ripped open, their contents had been thrown, squashed, and devoured with reckless abandon.

"Crap." Anna groaned before dropping to her knees in a futile attempt to start picking up the mess. "This can't get any worse."

"Crap, crap, crap." Amelia chanted and gave her mother a big hug.

"Oh yeah," She sighed, "I'm sure everyone will love hearing you say that now."

It took over an hour to clean up a good chunk of the mess and hide the rest of the groceries on a tall shelf in the pantry. Eventually the floor would have to be mopped and the table washed, but she shifted her focus to catching the hyperactive bouncing ball named Amelia. She'd just managed to hold the girl still long enough to wipe her hands and face with a rag when her cell phone began to ring.

"Hello?" She answered out of breath as Mia squirmed and cried to avoid having her face washed.

"Mrs. LeBeau?" The caller seemed uncertain, but Anna wasn't sure if it was due to the earful of Amelia's protests she was hearing or some new problem entirely. Either way, Anna let go of the sugar monster so she could focus on the what was bound to be a whole new predicament.

"Uh, yeah. This is she. Who's this?"

"Mrs. Franklin," She waited as if she expected some response, but when she received silence on the other end of the line she powered through with a more annoyed tone, "your son Oliver's teacher."

"Oh!" Amazing how this strange woman could garner all of Anna's attention with one sentence, "Yes, of course. Is there something wrong?"

"I feel I should be asking you that question, Mrs. LeBeau."

The growing attitude seemed unnecessary, but the strangeness of the situation surpassed any sense of annoyance Rogue felt, "What do you mean?"

"School was dismissed thirty-five minutes ago. Your son has been sitting in my classroom, terrified something happened to you."

Instantly Anna's eyes shot toward the clock on the wall. It couldn't be that late! There was no way it was already three thirty-five. She'd only sat down an hour ago, right? She couldn't have slept that long! But sure enough, both the wall clock and her cell phone glared back at her with the same unfortunate numbers.

"Crap!" Amelia voiced beside Anna as the woman's face grew tight with disgrace. "Crap, crap, crap!"

"Yes, that might be an adequate term for this situation." The cold, disapproving teacher concurred with Mia before disconnecting.

…

Thankfully, the teacher's assistant was the one to greet Anna and Amelia as they rushed into the classroom. The woman alerted Oliver to their presence the moment they charged through the door, but the boy only offered his mother a small frown then walked over to retrieve his backpack. Rogue earnestly apologized to Oliver and the assistant for being so late, but only the older of the two even acknowledged she was alive.

Oliver didn't want to hear anything she had to say and the teaching assistant seemed to find something funny about the whole situation. Anna adjusted Mia on her hip and ushered the sullen Oliver out to the car before she lost her temper in front of the two mini LeBeaus. What could that strange woman possibly find funny about this whole mix up anyway?

Despite Ollie's already upset feelings, the sugar overloaded Amelia continued to talk and sing non-stop as her mother attempted to buckle her into the car seat. After the fifth exclamation that she could do it by herself, Anna stepped back and let the kid try and fix the buckles. Giving up the seatbelt battle for a few minutes worked in her favor since her phone chimed with a different sound then before.

Pulling out the device, she noticed she'd received an e-mail, "Change of plans, guys." Mia smiled up at her while Oliver simply glared, "Looks like we're heading to the airport."

…

Anna could understand her son was mad at her. Heck, she could even sympathize with why he was angry. But would it have killed the guy to tell her who the heck M was? She was almost certain Oliver knew exactly who the mystery message sender was. There'd been just enough flicker of recognition in those green eyes when she mentioned Louisiana and M. Yeah, he knew all right, but ten sincere apologies later and he still wasn't ready to take pity on his substitute mom.

So instead of doing things the easy way, the trio wandered around baggage claim hoping that someone in the crowds of people would recognize them. Anna knew from the note that they were to expect a group of people, at least someone would be called M, and that the plane should have landed ten minutes ago. How hard could it be to find someone with that many clues on your side? Even if Oliver was being stubborn, she would figure out who their surprise visitor was.

They didn't wait very long before Oliver let out a happy sound and raced away from Anna's side. She pealed Amelia away from the baggage claim carousel for the fifth time, and then turned to see who could have evoked any emotion from the sourpuss. Unlike the frozen surprise that instantly coated Anna's face, Mia grinned and squirmed until she was loose from her mother's grasp. The moment her feet hit the floor she took off in her fastest run towards none other than Jean-Luc LeBeau.

The man looked old. There was no real way around that fact. Sure, he was nowhere near as ancient as the regal African American woman standing beside him. But while she exuded wisdom and grace, Jean-Luc appeared sickly and pale. He stood tall and firm, only bending to scoop Mia up from the floor and hug her tightly, but something was off in the slowness of his movements.

Far more concerning then the man's physical appearance was his mere presence in this town at all. What was he doing outside of Louisiana anyway? The last time she'd seen Jean-Luc, he'd been mentally planning all the jobs he could accomplish with the X-Men's powers at his disposal. Even Remy, who'd helped the man out of some undue sense of loyalty, had been able to comprehend the guy was just using his so-called son. Surely, this was the last surprise Remy would want for his birthday.

 _Then again_ , she reasoned as both Amelia and Oliver laughed with the strangers, _there has to be a reason the kids know them so well._

"Anna," A friendly female voice reached her ears, forcing the woman to turn her head away from Jean-Luc and over to the right. "You know, that mustache really sets off your eyes."

 _Mustache?_ She raised a hand to her chin and was mortified when her fingertips came back with faint marker residue. Suddenly the giggles of the teaching assistant and the stares of the bustling crowds made a lot more sense. She'd written off at least one of the two to the bright pink skirt Amelia had strapped on to her yellow and white polka dot overalls. With the new evidence at hand though, she figured it be best to ban both sweets and art supplies from the house.

"Here." The lady gave a bright laugh and pulled a hand wipe out of a travel container from her purse. "This should get it off."

"Mercy," The tall, handsome man standing beside the little firecracker chuckled good-naturedly, "Give the poor woman a break," He sweetly wrapped an arm around her waist and let his hand rest on the slight bump of her stomach, "or we might just end up with a hyper active toddler and one less babysitter."

"True," The woman smiled and laid one of her own hands over her husbands, "And she is one of the few who survived the twin terrors."

"Aunt Anna!" The shout and rush of movement hit Rogue before she could even question the strangers. "Oncle Remy still has no idea, right?"

"Uh," She glanced down at the young man now standing perfectly straight beside his possible parents.

If this group had anything going for them, it was good posture. She'd never seen a seven, or possibly eight, year old stand that still, let alone correctly. It seemed like a safe enough guess to say they were related based on how much he favored the tall man watching the interaction with humor filled brown eyes. The only thing that hinted to the kid's mother was the light blonde highlights hidden throughout his dusty brown hair.

"Of course, he doesn't know," An exact duplicate of the first kid walked up to the group and rolled his eyes at his clone, "You really think our family can't keep a secret that simple?"

"If I know my little brother," The man chuckled and ruffled the second twin's hair, "He's probably too wrapped up in denying what number this birthday actually is to notice any party plans."

"Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Henri." Quipped the tanned blonde on his arm.

Henri kissed her temple, "Moi? Worry about age? Never, Mercy."

 _Mercy?_ The name rattled around in Anna's brain until an ancient memory resurfaced.

Yes, she knew Mercy and Henri. Well, it wasn't so much that she knew them as she somewhat remembered the names from a past absorption of Remy. If they were his brother and sister-in-law, then that meant the lady currently carrying Amelia over to their group had to be Tante Mattie. Was it really possible for this many of the Thieves Guild to leave Louisiana at the same time? Weren't they like British royalty and traveled in separate planes to different locations? At least this answered all her questions about the mysterious M.

"Yeah, cause you're already like a thousand, papa." The first twin gave his dad a cheeky grin and ducked when the man tried to reach out and playfully grab his arm.

"Alright you two, settle down." Jean-Luc spoke up as their half of the group reached Anna. He turned towards the lady and honestly surprised her by giving an almost fatherly expression. Without waiting for any response, he leaned forward and captured her hand for a delicate kiss, "It is always a pleasure to see you again, Anna."

"Nice to, uh… see you too." She stumbled between spitting out an answer and wondering if Remy would look anything like his adopted dad in thirty or forty years. It was almost impossible to tear her eyes from Jean-Luc's face, but she was observant enough to notice the strange grin Tante Mattie kept gracing her with. If Anna hadn't known better, she would have believed that somehow this woman realized what a colossal oddity this reunion actually was.

Anna's phone suddenly rang, thankfully halting any more introductions and hand kissing. This time period's Anna may or may not have been buddy buddy with Jean-Luc, but she wasn't ready to get close or even consider trusting him yet. Biased and confusing as it was, she just couldn't avoid the feelings of watching Remy's father disappoint him on that bayou so many years ago. No one deserved to be taken advantage of like that. Not even swamprats.

The extended family remained silent as she quickly conversed with Remy and assured him that they were fine and heading home in a few minutes. Once he'd been reassured, she hung up the phone and turned her attention back to the group, "Looks like we have to get going so we don't blow the surprise."

"No problem." Mercy spoke up and placed a warm arm around Anna's shoulders. The moment seemed so natural that Rogue's usual sense of social anxiety suffered a delayed reaction. It wasn't until the woman began edging them over to the rental car station, that she began feeling the uncomfortable knots in her stomach, "The guys will pick up the bags and you can leave after Tante and I pick out a rental car. Just tell my little brother-in-law that you decided to take your own sweet time getting home."

"Isn't like he was never guilty of that himself." Mattie concurred and patted Anna's back in a manner that helped soothe her internal trepidations. It was the first time, aside from those few moments of romance with Remy LeBeau, that Anna's heart felt a little lighter in this strange place. The only question gnawing at her brain was how did this woman know right when she felt distressed?

…

By the time she parted ways with the LeBeau clan and drove her own terrible two back to the house, Remy'd prepared a home cooked meal. Actually, he'd prepared it about fifteen minutes before they arrived, but he didn't grumble once while reheating the plates and cutting up Amelia's portion. The man even took pity on his substitute wife and offered to put the munchkins to bed.

It was funny really, how happy he was about everything. It seemed like he was just enjoying their company despite the hour. The only thing that seemed out of place was how quickly he tried to get the kids upstairs. Wasn't like they were in a race or anything. The kids would go to sleep and then so would they. Why be in such a hurry?

She pushed the thoughts aside and rested her head on her folded arms. The position wasn't the most comfortable, but it supported her tired cranium enough for her to let out a deep yawn and close her eyes. She'd rest her eyes for a few minutes and then offer to finish the dishes for Remy. He'd like that, she figured as she drifted off to sleep, it would give him time to go do whatever it was he was in such a hurry for.


End file.
